Workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/work
en-usFri, 18 Aug 2017 01:13:44 -0400Fri, 18 Aug 2017 01:13:44 -0400The latest news on Work from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-work-style-2017-8How being a 'protocol and pecking order kind of gal' helped earn Kellyanne Conway $39 million and a spot in the White Househttp://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-work-style-2017-8
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 10:58:00 -0400Áine Cain
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/598cbe3ccb97011d008b4586-911/gettyimages-621866316.jpg" alt="Kellyanne Conway Donald Trump" data-mce-source="Mark Wilson/Getty Images" /></p><p></p>
<p>In July, White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/30/trump-chief-of-staff-john-kelly-reince-priebus">told Fox News</a> that she is "a protocol and pecking-order kind of gal" in the West Wing.</p>
<p>Conway said that she established the tone of her relationship with US President Donald Trump on the first day she joined his campaign.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/891076690457223170">On Fox News</a>, she described the conversation: "''I'd like to say, Mr. Trump, I'll never address you by your first name and I don't consider myself your peer,'" she told Fox. "And he said, 'Okay. That sounds great.'"</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/women-trump-white-house-2017-5">Business Insider previously reported</a> that Conway calls the president "Mr. Trump," "President Trump," or "Sir."</p>
<p>She went on to advise others in the West Wing to take the same deferential approach with the president.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/891076690457223170">In a July appearance on Fox News</a>, Conway called Trump a "great boss for women," adding, "The reason I said that was because I do think that it's important to set up that level of deference and humility when you've got someone who's your boss ... who is clearly your senior, your superior. He's never made me feel anything but part of the team and a senior member of the team."</p>
<p>During an appearance at the Women Rule Summit in December, Conway described her management style as "tough and firm but gentle at the same time" and "very deferential and respectful," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kellyanne-conway-is-playing-the-woman-card-all-wrong/2016/12/07/92a0cf04-bcc7-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.e26671bfe630">according to the Washington Post</a>. She told the audience that she is able to bring the president bad news "with a big smile," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/women-trump-white-house-2017-5">according to Business Insider</a>.</p>
<p>Before she joined his campaign, Conway was a vocal Trump critic and a supporter of Senator Ted Cruz. Conway slammed Trump for "offending his way to the nomination" and questioned his conservative bona fides, <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/326824-conway-racked-up-consulting-gigs-financial-forms-show">according to the Hill</a>.</p>
<p>Conway first met Trump in 2001, after she and her husband George &mdash; who are together worth $39.3 million&mdash; purchased a condo in one of his buildings. Conway had previously founded <a href="https://www.pollingcompany.com/about">the Polling Company Inc/Women's Trend</a> in 1995, which has since made her somewhere between $1 million and $5 million, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-was-a-young-entrepreneur-and-it-made-her-millions-2017-5">according to Business Insider</a>.</p>
<p>Now, Conway has "walk-in" privileges and can call on the president in the Oval Office unannounced, <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/03/kellyanne-conway-trumps-first-lady.html">according to New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi</a>.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-31/trump-says-kelly-will-be-spectacular-on-new-chief-s-first-day">Bloomberg reported</a> that now that Chief of Staff John Kelly is in charge, that may change. What's more, <a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/playbook/2017/06/10/trump-to-rollback-some-of-obamas-cuba-policies-first-in-playbook-kellyanne-complains-about-west-wing-colleagues-remembering-zbig-brzezinski-ashcroft-hired-by-qatar-katy-tur-profile-bday-zeleny-220767">Politico</a> reported that the senior adviser was overheard criticizing her coworkers at the British Embassy in June, complaining that she is "the one catching the slings and arrows in the West Wing."</p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not she still employs a "protocol and pecking order" approach, Conway could be in line for a promotion soon.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/us/politics/trump-white-house-obamacare-health.html">The New York Times reported</a> that she is a "perennial" favorite to fill the position of White House Communications Director, which was previously vacated by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/who-has-trump-fired-so-far-james-comey-sean-spicer-michael-flynn-2017-7">Anthony Scaramucci after less than two weeks</a>.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-daily-routine-2017-8" >A look inside the daily life of Kellyanne Conway, the loyal Trump adviser favored to become the White House's next communications director</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-work-style-2017-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-defended-trump-jr-russia-lawyer-meeting-show-and-tell-cards-hannity-2017-7">Kellyanne Conway defended Donald Trump Jr.‘s meeting with a Russian lawyer using show-and-tell cards — and the internet went nuts</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-nailed-the-reason-we-feel-like-weve-stopped-learning-at-work-2017-8Elon Musk just nailed the reason why we sometimes feel like we've stopped learning at workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-nailed-the-reason-we-feel-like-weve-stopped-learning-at-work-2017-8
Fri, 11 Aug 2017 06:28:00 -0400Scott Mautz
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/598d87070dafe8070d3b84cb-2400/gettyimages-493893250.jpg" alt="Elon Musk" data-mce-source="ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Elon Musk, Chairman, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors." /></p><p>If you were anything like me, math class was painful, on a good day. Oh, if only fidget spinners had been invented back then. I can vividly recall discussions with my mom revolving around the question, "When am I ever going to use this stuff?"</p>
<p>Fast forward to today's math students and they may be as <a href="https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/these-5-killer-questions-can-help-set-goals-people-will-actually-care-about.html">disinterested</a> and<a href="https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/9-signs-your-workplace-is-emotionally-unintelligen.html"> frustrated</a> as I was.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/this-tweet-from-elon-musk-to-tesla-customers-is-a-.html">Elon Musk</a> knows why.</p>
<p>The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX was speaking recently at the International Space Station Research &amp; Development conference in Washington, D.C. (a conference at which I'm probably not even smart enough to work the coat check room), and had this to say about why students are so bored by math:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You just sort of get dumped into math. Why are you learning that? It seems like, "Why am I being asked to do these strange problems?" Our brain has evolved to discard information that it thinks has irrelevance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His insight for how to fix this problem has relevance well beyond that of ninth grade geometry.</p>
<p>He went on to explain that schools are not doing enough to teach <em>why</em> students are learning math. Schools should be providing context by teaching math within the context of solving a problem, like building a rocket, constructing a bridge, or taking an engine apart.</p>
<p>Then students understand, and this is the key, <em>why</em> they are learning math or physics (and will learn how to use a screwdriver and socket wrench along the way).</p>
<p>And that may be precisely why you aren't learning much at work.</p>
<p>How many times has a leader put you into a new situation in which you were forced to learn, but the "why" was either non-existent or <a href="https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/spot-these-7-signs-of-disengagement-before-its-too-late.html">uninspiring</a>. Learning how to run that new equipment, how to use that new software, or how to call on a customer for the first time just isn't as compelling when the why is "so we can hit our numbers."</p>
<p>As a leader, you have the opportunity to provide the context and the purpose for why you ask your employees to learn something (or to do anything, for that matter).</p>
<p>While children tend to be focused on more extrinsic factors for learning, such as being able to do what their friends do or to avoid being reprimanded by parents, for adults the motivation to learn is <a href="https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/harvard-research-says-this-1-thing-distinguishes-entrepreneurial-leaders-from-co.html">intrinsic</a>.</p>
<p>Adults learn new skills to make them more promotion worthy, to learn how to solve a specific problem (problems that you can clearly outline for them), to feed a desire for an increased sense of competency and self-esteem, or to nurture a love for continual learning in and of itself. The point of learning for adults has to be clear and linked to their self-interests and/or what really matters to them.</p>
<p>In other words, learning should be linked to a purpose.</p>
<p>So if you want to turn your conference room into a classroom, share thoughtful reasons why. Ask for it if you're the student/employee, and provide it if you're the teacher/boss.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-nailed-the-reason-we-feel-like-weve-stopped-learning-at-work-2017-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-amazon-warehouse-prime-now-2017-7">Amazon has an oddly efficient way of storing stuff in its warehouses</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-being-a-middle-child-is-the-best-2017-85 reasons why being the middle child is actually the besthttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-being-a-middle-child-is-the-best-2017-8
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 17:37:32 -0400Emily DiNuzzo
<h3><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/598cd2263ce5e9002d69231f-2400/kardashian-9.jpg" alt="kardashian" data-mce-source="Stuart Wilson/Getty Images" /></h3>
<h3>&nbsp;</h3>
<p>Being the middle child comes with its grievances. People even <a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/what-is-middle-child-syndrome-true-traits-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">associate a "syndrome"</a>&nbsp;with kids who grow up with an older and younger sibling.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, you can't control your birth order. So, instead&nbsp;of fighting it, middle children should embrace their status and know that there are even reasons to celebrate it.</p>
<p><span>INSIDER spoke with Katrin Schumann, co-author of </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Power-Middle-Children-Middleborns/dp/0452297931?tag=insider-safetynet-20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"The Secret Power of Middle Children"</a><span>&nbsp;about the benefits of being a middle child.</span></p><h3>Middle children are more independent as they gain confidence.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/58b5a97edd08955b0c8b4d77-400-300/middle-children-are-more-independent-as-they-gain-confidence.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Middle children typically&nbsp;have&nbsp;more freedom and less pressure growing up. Sometimes they can even get&nbsp;away with more things as a kid. This, over time, leads to them<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/field-guide-families/201210/the-secret-powers-middle-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">developing more independence</a><span>&nbsp;</span>and confidence, according to Schumann.</p>
<p><span>"Research shows that as middles mature they gain self-confidence &mdash; this likely has to do with them&nbsp;</span><span>recognizing and valuing innate strengths, and downplaying perceived weaknesses," Schumann told INSIDER. However, although they gain confidence as they mature, middle children still&nbsp;have less of an&nbsp;ego than their other siblings, Schumann&nbsp;<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/field-guide-families/201210/the-secret-powers-middle-children">told Psychology Today</a>.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Independence is a classic example of how middle children turn their circumstances &mdash; sometimes being ignored &mdash; into their strengths, learning how to live on their own.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Middles know how to negotiate and keep the peace.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/597fa20dd7f5a4183b204e5f-400-300/middles-know-how-to-negotiate-and-keep-the-peace.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Middles who are often labeled as peacemakers or peacekeepers learn how to negotiate. Witnessing fights between siblings is a<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/middle-child-syndrome-personality/">good way of learning how to be diplomatic</a>, a good listener, and persuasive.</p>
<p><span>"People see only the negatives and overlook the significant positives for middles, such as the fact that they develop great negotiation skills, empathy and flexibility, and are often innovative out-of-the-box thinkers," Schumann said. This expertise&nbsp;<a href="http://motto.time.com/4448989/middle-children-making-the-most/">develops out of a need as a child</a>&nbsp;and then turns into&nbsp;bankable skills.&nbsp;</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Middle children often feel happy in their relationships.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5936e634da6dde36e1751a97-400-300/middle-children-often-feel-happy-in-their-relationships.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span>Research shows that middle-borns are often&nbsp;<a href="http://familyservices.us.com/pdf/A%20Review%20of%20200%20Birth-Order%20Studies-Lifestyle%20Characteristics.pdf">characterized as faithful and monogamous</a>&nbsp;in relationships.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>"Middles make great partners and friends," Schumann said.</p>
<p><span>As Schumann told Psychology Today,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/field-guide-families/201210/the-secret-powers-middle-children">studies show</a><span>&nbsp;that&nbsp;</span><span>middles also tend to be&nbsp;the most adventurous when it comes to sex and are often the happiest and most satisfied&nbsp;in their relationships.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-being-a-middle-child-is-the-best-2017-8#/#the-perks-of-having-both-an-older-and-younger-sibling-help-middle-kids-in-the-workplace-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/strategies-to-help-you-get-on-top-of-your-email-accounts-2017-8These 5 easy strategies could help you get on top of your emailshttp://www.businessinsider.com/strategies-to-help-you-get-on-top-of-your-email-accounts-2017-8
Sun, 06 Aug 2017 06:28:00 -0400Peter Economy
<p><a href="https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/5-email-mistakes-that-make-you-look-extremely-unprofessional.html"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5986ef8727fa6b30d15417c7-725/rw.jpg" alt="robin williams" data-mce-source="YouTube" />Does looking at your mobile email app give you anxiety?</a></p>
<p>Is your inbox overflowing with unread messages, eCards you haven't responded to, and other incomprehensible requests you haven't had the time to touch?</p>
<p>If yes, your email is out of control. But don't worry. These 5 effortless strategies will get you on top of your email again &mdash; and your life.</p>
<h2>1. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize</h2>
<p>When you have countless emails clogging up your inbox, it's incredibly important that you remember which messages are most important for you to check: those from your boss, your team members, upper management, family members and significant others. Whenever you delve into your inbox, look for emails from those people first. It'll give you peace of mind.</p>
<h2>2. Do you what you have to do first. And your email second</h2>
<p>Although it's tempting to jump right into your work day by responding to emails, it turns out that beginning by looking at your inbox is one of the least productive things you can do to start your day. Instead, make a list of what you need to get done &mdash; like projects, assignments, or other concrete tasks &mdash; and set aside time to complete each one before looking at your inbox again.</p>
<h2>3. Don't get lost in long chains</h2>
<p>If there are a million people copied on a chain and everyone seems to be arguing back and forth before reaching a resolution, it will almost definitely be a waste of time to participate. Resist the urge to join the conversation.<a href="http://workwell.unum.com/2017/01/7-common-email-mistakes-keep-mind/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">You'll just keep losing productivity.</a></p>
<h2>4. Set an example</h2>
<p>As both a leader and employee, you can set the tone for your email conversations by using thoughtful language, relevant subject lines, and concise, to-the-point language. Also, as a rule of thumb, try not to copy anyone else that isn't directly related to the message that you're sending. You wouldn't want someone doing the same thing to do.</p>
<h2>5. Hit "Reply All" sparingly</h2>
<p>When responding to emails, try to remember that your message should go only to the people who will care about your response. Don't hit "reply all" unless you actually need to reply all. It'll make both your life and theirs easier.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/strategies-to-help-you-get-on-top-of-your-email-accounts-2017-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-solar-eclipse-without-special-glasses-tips-tricks-2017-8">Here's the best way to watch the solar eclipse if you don't have special glasses</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-and-happiness-2017-8This is what millennials can teach everyone else about happinesshttp://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-and-happiness-2017-8
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 04:39:00 -0400John Rampton
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5982e16587543316fc40d893-909/millennials-festival-friends-fun.jpg" alt="millennials festival friends fun" data-mce-source="Jason Kempin / Staff / Getty Images" /></p><p>As the largest, and most disruptive, generation there's a lot to learn about millennials.</p>
<p>It's estimated that millennials will be almost 50% of the workforce by 2020.</p>
<p>How can we <a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201311/neil-blumenthal/how-to-manage-millennials.html">keep them in one place</a> ? How can we <a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201704/coeli-carr/millennials.html">talk to them</a> ? What can we learn from them?</p>
<p>Can this generation of people teach older and younger generations the secret to happiness be one such lesson?</p>
<h2>They prefer to spend money on experiences rather than on material items.</h2>
<p>Older generations had the belief that in order to be successful you needed to have a good career with a good salary. This money allowed an employee to purchase essential items and the finer things in a life.</p>
<p>Most of the older generation want to purchase a home in the suburbs. They wanted that white picket fence. For most of that generation happiness was equated with a home purchase.</p>
<h2>For millennials, that's not the case.</h2>
<p>"In the hunt for happiness, many have shifted away from material things and toward experiences," <a href="http://time.com/money/4030036/millennials-boomers-buying-experiences/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">writes</a> journalist and author Dan Kadlec.</p>
<p>"This shift spans the generations, although millennials seem to be further along. 76% of millennials said they would rather spend on experiences rather than on material things. Compare this number with 59% of boomers who feel that ownership is happiness. This information is according to new research from Eventbrite, a ticketing company."</p>
<p>Mr. Kadlec adds, "From the start of their working years, millennials have placed a high value on job satisfaction and enriching experiences. millennial have come to the point of turning down offers or promotions that might get in the way of these experiences. Some 94% of millennials say experiences are an important part of a fulfilling life, according to the <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/rally/baby-boomers-go-out-more-than-their-kids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">survey</a>."</p>
<p>We can't pinpoint the exact moment when this became a turning point. Some believe that the change was connected with the millennials feeling suffocated by the "greed is good" type philosophy. This seems to have happened some time in the 80s.</p>
<p>The internet bubble burst in the early 2000s, and of course then came the 2009 economic meltdown. millennials have figured out that spending money on experiences are more rewarding and can make us all happier.</p>
<h2>There's some science to back that up as well.</h2>
<p>"We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed, but only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them," <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3043858/the-science-of-why-you-should-spend-your-money-on-experiences-not-thing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">says</a> Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University. Dr. Gilovich has been studying the question of money and happiness for more than two decades.</p>
<p>Gilovich's research is the synthesis of numerous psychological studies into something called the <a href="https://www.fastcoexist.com/3038154/does-money-buy-happiness-up-to-a-point" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Easterlin paradox</a>. Simply stated it says that money buys happiness, but only up to a point.</p>
<p>"Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods," says Dr. Gilovich. "You can really like your material stuff. You can even think of that "stuff" as part of your identity. In some way you can feel connected to those things. Nonetheless mere "things" remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences."</p>
<p>Furthermore, experiences give us something to look forward to and connects us with others. "We consume experiences directly with other people," says Gilovich. "And after they're gone, they're part of the stories that we tell to one another."</p>
<h2>They have a different mentality regarding work.</h2>
<p>millennials get a bad rap for being lazy. That's not true. They have a completely different mentality on work than previous generations.</p>
<p>millennials like to be doing something that they love and to have the flexibility to achieve a healthy <a href="https://due.com/blog/work-life-balance-look-like/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">work-life balance</a>.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-millennials-could-upend-wall-street-and-corporate-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Intelligence Group</a>,"64% of millennials said they would rather make $40,000 a year at a job they love. They would even leave a $100,000 a year at a job they find boring."</p>
<p>A study from<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kaytiezimmerman/2016/11/13/what-to-do-with-a-millennial-employee-that-is-bored-at-work/#5d2637773b5a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Udemy</a> found that "Young millennials (ages 21-24) are nearly twice as likely to be bored at work (38%). Baby Boomers are only about (22%) likely to be bored."</p>
<p>The bigger picture? millennials aren't motivated or happy with a fat, juicy paycheck. They're seeking jobs where they can make a difference, grow professionally and personally, and have time to themselves.</p>
<p>"Is there really such a thing as work-life balance? If you love what you do for work, then you're not constantly aggravated by the elusive work-life balance achievement. Happiness is the barometer. You need to be comfortable that you're giving enough attention to family, work, friends, and your health."</p>
<p>Do what makes you happy or else everything else will suffer as a result. When things go too far in either direction, I tend to course-correct fairly quickly. "You need to be the judge of this and it varies a great deal person to person," Ryan Harwood, CEO of PureWow, told <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelritlop/2017/02/27/9-successful-millennials-share-what-work-life-balance-means-to-them/2/#7be078b16b24" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes</a>.</p>
<p>Kayla Buell, author and millennial career blogger, added:</p>
<blockquote>"Work-life balance means doing an awesome job at work but also having enough time and energy to focus on my other passions and relationships. Last year, I made the switch to a new company which aligned more with my personal <a href="https://due.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-career-when-you-have-way-too-many-passions/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">passions</a> and allowed me to tap into that energy and focus in a new way. Like many millennials, I was starting to feel overwhelmed by the daily grind, so finding a way to blend my career and passion, allowed me to be more present in my relationships and feel more fulfilled overall."</blockquote>
<h2>They want to make the world a better place.</h2>
<p>Research has shown that giving makes us <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-social-self/201012/giving-really-is-better-receiving" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">far happier than receiving</a>. Other <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/mar/21/medicalresearch.usa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">studies</a> have shown that that giving money to others, or donating to a charity, will put a bigger smile on your face. Merely spending that money on yourself doesn't fit the happiness meter. That's because we're a social species and survived for all these centuries because we helped each other out.</p>
<p>That's not to say that other generations haven't wanted to make the world a better place. It's just that <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/how-millennials-have-changed-charitable-giving-2501900" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">millennials have taken this to a whole new level</a>. <a href="http://www.care2services.com/care2blog/new-study-shows-millennials-want-to-make-a-global-difference" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">74% of this tech-savvy generation</a> has a passion to change the world and are more than willingly to make a positive difference. This generation wants to make changes in both the lives of people locally and globally.</p>
<p><em>Are you a millennial? If so, let us what you can teach others about how to be happy.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-and-happiness-2017-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-solar-eclipse-without-special-glasses-tips-tricks-2017-8">Here's the best way to watch the solar eclipse if you don't have special glasses</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-care-about-your-work-uniform-2017-7You should care about what you wear to the office — here's whyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-care-about-your-work-uniform-2017-7
Tue, 01 Aug 2017 11:17:57 -0400Dennis Green
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5751c8719105841d008c6ab9-1000/shutterstock_321333917.jpg" alt="Business Dress" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /></p><p>If you just wake up, get out of bed, and throw anything on before heading to the office, you're probably not doing everything you can to succeed at work.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Menswear expert G. Bryce Boyer writes&nbsp;in his book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Style-History-Principles-Menswear/dp/0465053998">True Style: The History and Principles of Classic Menswear</a>," that one should "dress <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-dress-up-for-the-office-2016-5">appropriately to one's goals</a>."</p>
<p>Part of that is akin to the adage "dress for the job you want, not the job you have," and the general principle is the same. But it works even if you like the job you already have.</p>
<p>The reason why it's so important to dress for the office is a psychological one: It gives you confidence.</p>
<p>"Appropriate&nbsp;dress frees us from the anxieties and liabilities of sending negative and confusing messages," Boyer writes.</p>
<p>Being freed from this anxiety and improving your confidence can have a lasting impact on your performance at the office, and ensures that you are judged on other criteria, like your work product, merit, skill, and loyalty.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dressing-for-success-actually-works-2016-2">dressing well for work has tangible benefits</a> in the real world, and it can even make you more successful in the long run.</p>
<p>No one is saying you have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe to meet these goals. You don't have to buy expensive clothing, wear a fancy watch, or be anyone other than who you are to get this done. You just need to pay attention to how you're being perceived, and take charge of controlling&nbsp;that perception.</p>
<p>Do this, and your boss&nbsp;will notice.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-every-guy-should-keep-in-his-work-bag-2017-7" >16 things every guy should keep in his work bag</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-care-about-your-work-uniform-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/guide-picking-belts-leather-quality-dress-casual-2015-10">Every man should know what ‘genuine leather’ actually is before buying a belt</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-fortune-500-ceo-2017-7Billionaire Clippers owner Steve Ballmer shares 3 key traits you need to have if you want a successful careerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-fortune-500-ceo-2017-7
Thu, 27 Jul 2017 09:15:46 -0400Anna Mazarakis and Alyson Shontell
<p><a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5960e58bd9fccd4b018b4f0f-800/bi-graphicshow-i-did-it-podcast800x100post.png" alt="Success How I Did It podcast" data-mce-source="Samantha Lee/Business Insider"></a><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/59789bbc552be55f008b690e-2400/ap245155798152.jpg" alt="Steve Ballmer" data-mce-source="AP">Luck is a crucial key to success, according to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. But you also have to put yourself in a position to become lucky.</p>
<p>In an interview for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-from-clippers-owner-and-ex-microsoft-ceo-2017-7">Business Insider's podcast, "Success! How I Did It,"</a> Ballmer said he advises younger people who are just starting their careers to find something they are really passionate about. Once they have a passion, they can build a career by working hard, being thoughtful, and getting a little lucky. </p>
<p>"There are people who are willing to work a little harder, willing to be a little smarter, and still don't have success," Ballmer said. "And some people do and there's a luck element that distinguishes those."</p>
<p>The three most important things any ambitious future leader needs, he says, are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Hard work</li>
<li>Good ideas</li>
<li>Luck</li>
</ol>
<p>"<span>There are two kinds of people," Ballmer explained. "My son will tell me this, 'Dad, there are people who live to work and there are people who work to live,' and I respect both of those things. But if you're trying to have a career, you're going to have a little bit more live-to-work in you than work-to-live."</span></p>
<p>Once a solid career has been developed, Ballmer has additional advice for how to be a successful leader. </p>
<p>He told his successor at Microsoft, Satya Nadella: "You've got to be bold, but you've got to be right." </p>
<p>A leader has to point employees in the right direction. "If you should be zagging left and you send people down the right, that's the biggest failure a leader can make," Ballmer told Business Insider.</p>
<p>Below, check out the episode with Ballmer explaining how he helped build Microsoft, or keep scrolling for a transcript detailing his advice to the next generation of leaders.</p>
<div>
<iframe width="800" height="300" src="https://embed.acast.com/howididit/steveballmer-howibecamemicrosoftsceothenboughtthelaclippers" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;"></iframe>
</div>
<p>Subscribe to "Success! How I Did It" on <a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit">Acast</a> or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/success!-how-i-did-it/id1205997729">iTunes</a>. Check out previous episodes with:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/aaron-levie-quit-college-to-found-box-now-25-billion-company-2017-7">Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robinhood-app-vlad-tenev-founder-free-stock-trading-valuation-2017-7">Robinhood founder and CEO Vlad Tenev</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-founder-payal-kadakia-fitness-startup-podcast-interview-2017-6">ClassPass founder Payal Kadakia</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dropbox-founder-and-ceo-drew-houston-interview-2017-6">DropBox founder and CEO Drew Houston</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Here's the part of the interview where Ballmer shares his career advice: </p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Shontell</strong>: What advice did you give Satya Nadella as he was going to be coming in as CEO of Microsoft?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Ballmer</strong>: He quotes this and I'm sure he's right: I said, "You've got to be bold, but you've got to be right." It turn out that being bold and being wrong may be the worst place to be. The most important thing in leadership is actually pointing people the right direction. If you should be zagging left and you send people down the right, that's the biggest failure a leader can make.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Shontell</strong>: Final question: You've had a long, impressive, awesome career that I think anybody would feel so lucky to have. Looking back on it, if you're giving advice to someone who's just starting theirs out, what's the best advice you can give if someone wants to follow in your footsteps?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Ballmer</strong>: A few things. No. 1, find something to do that you're passionate about. If you're not passionate, I can't imagine how anybody can get there. There are two kinds of people. My son will tell me this, "Dad, there are people who live to work and there are people who work to live," and I respect both of those things. But if you're trying to have a career, you're going to have a little bit more live-to-work in you than work-to-live. So passion.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">No. 2, evidence that in hard work, evidence that in good thought and good thinking — but be lucky. I know Microsoft's a talented company, we have very talented people. I certainly felt like I worked hard and had some good ideas as did Bill Gates and Paul Allen. But if anybody says there's no luck involved, I don't believe that. There is some luck. There's no, what was it, George Bernard Shaw? "Man and Superman."</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">No, there are people who are willing to work a little harder, willing to be a little smarter, and still don't have success. And some people do and there's a luck element that distinguishes those. I'd probably highlight those things: hard work, good ideas, and put yourself in a position to get luck, if you will. I think that that's very important.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-from-clippers-owner-and-ex-microsoft-ceo-2017-7" >Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reveals how he became the world's happiest retired billionaire</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-fortune-500-ceo-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/7-words-improve-your-speech-smarter-vocabulary-2017-7">7 words that make you sound smarter without sounding like a jerk</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-from-clippers-owner-and-ex-microsoft-ceo-2017-7Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reveals how he became the world's happiest retired billionairehttp://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-from-clippers-owner-and-ex-microsoft-ceo-2017-7
Wed, 26 Jul 2017 08:30:32 -0400Anna Mazarakis and Alyson Shontell
<p><a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5960e58bd9fccd4b018b4f0f-800/bi-graphicshow-i-did-it-podcast800x100post.png" alt="Success How I Did It podcast" data-mce-source="Samantha Lee/Business Insider"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/59788a1b552be54f008b6897-2022/ballmer-clippers.jpg" alt="Steve Ballmer, LA Clippers" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="Steve Ballmer, owner of the LA Clippers NBA team"></a></p>
<p>Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and owner of the <span>Los Angeles Clippers</span>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-spent-last-weeks-at-microsoft-binging-on-netflix-2017-6">may be the happiest retired person</a> in tech, or even the world.</p>
<p>He met Bill Gates in college and joined Microsoft as the 30th employee. Now he lives an enviable (and well-deserved) life full of late-morning rises, golf, yoga, sports games, philanthropy, meditation, and walks with his wife.</p>
<p>"What I found is I control my time, I can pick and choose what I do," Ballmer told Business Insider US Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell on her podcast, "<a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit">Success! How I Did It</a>."</p>
<p>At first, Ballmer tried to stay as busy as when he was Microsoft's CEO. Now he's found a slower pace is better.</p>
<p>"I had probably been retired about a year and then I said, 'This is nuts, I don't have to recreate the pace with which I used to work,'" Ballmer said.</p>
<p>"I get up, I walk with my wife, I have a chance to reflect and meditate, work out. I usually don't get any place until about 10 in the morning ... Work some, hit some golf balls late in the afternoon. It's cool to be able to control my time and still be involved in fun and productive activities."</p>
<p>Ballmer bought the LA Clippers in 2014 after Donald Sterling was forced to offload the team following the public release of a racist recording. Ballmer is also involved in philanthropy with his wife, Connie, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-steve-ballmer-spent-10-million-on-usafactsorg-a-website-about-america-statistics-2017-6">they launched USAFacts.org</a>, an initiative that shows how the government spends money on local, state, and federal levels.</p>
<p>In the wide-ranging conversation, Ballmer and Shontell discussed:</p>
<ul>
<li>What Ballmer's days are like now that he's retired</li>
<li>How Bill Gates recruited him to Microsoft as employee No. 30</li>
<li>What the day of Microsoft's IPO was like, and how he celebrated</li>
<li>How difficult it was to run Microsoft while Gates was still around</li>
<li>What he says <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-i-didnt-throw-the-chair-at-th-google-engineer-2017-7">really happened during the infamous chair-throwing incident</a> with a Google engineer</li>
<li>How he dealt with the rise of all the FANG stocks while he was at the helm of Microsoft</li>
<li>What it was like to leave Microsoft after so many years</li>
<li>How he bought the Clippers in the midst of the Donald Sterling controversy</li>
<li>Starting <a href="http://usafacts.org/">USAFacts.org</a> to increase transparency about government spending</li>
<li>Ballmer's career advice for anyone who wants to become a Fortune 500 CEO</li>
</ul>
<p>You can listen to the full interview here:</p>
<div>
<iframe width="800" height="500" src="http://embed.acast.com/howididit/steveballmer-howibecamemicrosoftsceothenboughtthelaclippers" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;"></iframe>
</div>
<p>Subscribe to "Success! How I Did It" on <a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit">Acast</a> or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/success!-how-i-did-it/id1205997729">iTunes</a>. Check out previous episodes with:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/aaron-levie-quit-college-to-found-box-now-25-billion-company-2017-7">Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robinhood-app-vlad-tenev-founder-free-stock-trading-valuation-2017-7">Robinhood founder and CEO Vlad Tenev</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/classpass-founder-payal-kadakia-fitness-startup-podcast-interview-2017-6">ClassPass founder Payal Kadakia</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dropbox-founder-and-ceo-drew-houston-interview-2017-6">DropBox founder and CEO Drew Houston</a></li>
</ul>
<p><em>Following is a transcript of the podcast episode; it has been edited for clarity and length.</em></p>
<h2><strong>Becoming the happiest retired billionaire</strong></h2>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/597892a6552be58c008b688f-2150/imageuploadedfromios.jpg" alt="Steve Ballmer Alyson Shontell Success How I Did It Podcast" data-mce-source="Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Steve Ballmer and Alyson Shontell recording the &amp;quotSuccess! How I Did It&amp;quot podcast about his career at Microsoft and life in retirement as owner of the NBA's LA Clippers."></p>
<p><strong>Alyson Shontell:</strong> We're so happy to have you with us here, Steve.</p>
<p><strong>Steve Ballmer:</strong> Thanks for having me — really appreciate it.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> The first thing I wanted to ask you about is my colleague Julie Bort recently sat down with you and she says you are the happiest retired person in tech. So tell me what it's like to be you right now. What are your days filled with?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> The No. 1 thing I would say about retirement is you get to control your own time. I probably went into retirement maybe a little anxious, certainly not knowing what I was getting into. I didn't think about exactly what I was going to do until the day I walked out the door at Microsoft, and what I found is I control my time, I can pick and choose what I do, and I found three things that delight me in addition to just having a lot of fun, playing golf, doing yoga, stuff like that. But I'm also working on the Clippers. That's a serious investment of time. Part of that's going to games. I'm going to say it’s fun work, if you will.</p>
<p>I'm working on a project we call USA Facts, which is a project to pull together government numbers in a kind of 10K-like format to try to provide better integration of government data and better transparency. Then my wife and I have a philanthropic focus on kids in the US who are born into circumstances where they may not get a real shot at the American dream.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> I'm going to ask you about all of that, but first, let's go back into the very beginning. From what I understand, you were a pretty shy kid and you grew up in Michigan.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Yeah, I grew up in Detroit, and when I was 8 years old, my family moved to Belgium for three years, which actually was kind of a nutty thing back then. My dad was an immigrant, spoke a bunch of languages, so Ford sent him over there, but it was like being in an isolation chamber. You know, very little English TV, Europe was really still coming out of World War II, and it built a global perspective that I think was helpful. Grew up middle-class and then developed an interest in math and numbers, which has been a core strength, I would say, of mine since.</p>
<h2>Meeting Bill Gates in college, and how Gates recruited Ballmer to Microsoft</h2>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4c5333af7f8b9a8e5cc30100-610/steve-ballmer-bill-gates-older.jpg" alt="steve ballmer bill gates" width="762" height="572"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> You were the Harvard basketball team's statistician, you beat Bill Gates at a math competition at Harvard, so I think a math whiz would be a justified term. So one person that you met when you were at Harvard is Bill Gates, who you would have a long career with. What were those early days with Bill like?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> We met early sophomore year. We were living on the same floor in our dorm, and we had a mutual friend who lived in the middle. He said, "You guys are both crazy, unusual guys, you would enjoy each other." So he introduced us and we became good friends. That was the year he started Microsoft. It was a friendship from the start. Classes, math, economics, a lot of talk about business. Not that I knew a lot about it, but there was some mutual interest and then when he started Microsoft, he'd come back when he was gone and talk a little bit, be involved in some Harvard activities. I remember a long walk we had here in New York one time. We were way uptown, maybe in the Plaza, and we walked all the way downtown and back, and he was just telling me and explaining all about Microsoft and what was going on and some of the small things like managing the office and getting furniture, and I said, "Oh, you ought to hire somebody like my mom — that's kind of what my mom does at her business," and by the time I got hooked up at Microsoft, Bill had this great lady, Miriam Lubow, who did all that stuff. Those were fun times.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> You joined as employee number 30. What was your interview process like? Was there even an interview? Did you just call up Bill and say, "Hey, like can I come on full time?" How did it work?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Kind of the other way around. I worked a couple years at Procter and Gamble. Microsoft was going and then I was back at Stanford, at business school. The summer before, I went to business school, I had come up to Seattle to visit Bill when the business was in Albuquerque and I was at Procter and Gamble, so we had stayed in touch. I was getting probably April-ish of my first year in business school, and I was trying to decide between investment banking and consulting and I got a call from Bill and he said, "Hey, you know, we're kind of looking for a business person. Yeah I know you're in school, too bad you don't have a twin brother." Blah, blah, blah.</p>
<p>So then, it became clear to me what the hint was. I was supposed to take a trip back East to visit all these companies and I called him back the next day and said, "Hey, Bill, maybe I'd be interested." I flew through Seattle on the way back and nobody could believe it. But I decided to go and Bill and I had a deal. If things didn't work out, he'd fire me at the end of the summer or I could quit at the end of the summer. For the first month or so, I'd say we both wondered whether it might work. And then we hit a rhythm and quickly thereafter I bought a house and that now was 37 years ago, so a long time.</p>
<h2>Early days at Microsoft as 'chief dishwasher,' and an 'office' that was Bill Gates' couch</h2>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/555a18a0ca30bb88768b456d-718/ballmer%20bill%20gates.gif" alt="steve ballmer bill gates" data-mce-source="YouTube, kreftovich1" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Zd3HYKCRE"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> You made it long past that first month —</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I did.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Which is great to see. So remind us all what Microsoft was like in those days.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> The year I arrived in June, and the last year for which we had filed taxes, was $2.5 million in revenue. Then the first year I was there, we got to $7.5 million in revenue. The company was already in hardware and software.</p>
<p>People focus on the software side, but we had a product called the Z-80 SoftCard, which plugged into an Apple II and made it into a CPM, which is an old operating-system machine. About 30 employees, kind of helter-skelter.</p>
<p>When I got there the first day, there was no office, no place to sit. And Bill said, "Oh, you can have this corner of my couch in my office." So we pushed some papers aside, and I sat down and sure enough my office was sitting on that couch until I could carve one out of the office going forward. I became the chief cook and bottle washer, I would say, accounting, HR, and pretty soon thereafter, some folks from IBM came to talk about what would become the first PC. Bill wanted somebody to sit in the room with him, I was probably the guy who could best wear a suit, so to speak. For IBMers, you needed to have suits, so I became also the IBM account manager pretty early in my stay.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> So a lot of different jobs. As any fast-growing startup, you wear a lot of different hats.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I think my title was assistant to the chairman or something like that.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> So assistant to the chairman to CEO. It’s a pretty incredible rise. What do you think are the most important things you did over your first decade there that set you up to become the eventual CEO?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> You sort of glamorized my path. I kind of came in as a No. 2 guy. Bill Gates and Paul Allen were both founders, and there was a guy named Vern Raburn. I didn't ascend very far over time; I moved from No. 2 to the top job.</p>
<p>But the first 10 years, the two things I would probably highlight: One, I really set up the recruiting system, particularly college recruiting. The lifeblood of any tech organization is its talent. I'd say that was, to me, one of my pride and joys and very instrumental in the company's growth because we needed that huge influx of talent to drive our agenda and stay up with the industry.</p>
<p>The other thing which was a major focus and very important was managing the IBM relationship. That really got us into the operating-system business. That was the foundation on which we defined the PC business.</p>
<p>I'm going to give you two more. I ran the Windows development project. I got in and managed to get Windows into the market, which I say was a very important thing in the company's history. And we did go from a partnership when I joined, to a corporation, and the corporation had stock options, which was an important recruiting and attraction tool. At the time, the notion of giving out stock was there but certainly alien, particularly to these college recruits.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> So talk to me about the IPO day because I believe you owned about 8% of the company when it went public. What was that day like?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I don't really remember it terribly well. Two things I do remember about the day: We had moved into our new campus, I think the same day maybe, and one of the guys who had been with us — he actually predated me as a summer intern — was a friend of Bill's from high school. There was a sign he put up that was sort of neon-y that said it was IPO day, move into a new office day, I think, if I'm remembering this correctly, and maybe it was his birthday, maybe he didn't put it up but it was his birthday.</p>
<p>I remember that and I remember going out for drinks afterward with my then girlfriend and being slightly celebratory, and I don't remember anything else about it, frankly.</p>
<h2>Bumping heads with Gates and learning to be a CEO</h2>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5970cc6c552be5b6088b56c0-2212/171549203.jpg" alt="Steve Ballmer" data-mce-source="Getty Images/Justin Sullivan"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> IPO day is not exit day necessarily. From a business perspective, business certainly goes on and then you've got a whole other suite of people to please with your public company.</p>
<p>I wanted to talk to you about your first few years as CEO. It seems like it was a little bit of a challenge because Gates had huge shoes to fill — it’s his company that he cofounded and he was still around. So what were those first years like really running the company?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I would say there were four things that were important or interesting.</p>
<p>No. 1: I did take over at the top of the dot-com bubble. Microsoft's market cap may now be where it was back then — the stock price is certainly over — but it's only in the last couple of years. So I took over at exactly the peak and it was really hard to show fine stock performance from there.</p>
<p>No. 2: We had to really resolve our issues with the Department of Justice and the EU. People forget that was a big issue at the time.</p>
<p>No. 3: I had not really run any product development except that small stint on Windows, and so building relationships and thinking about how I interact with the product development side, even with Bill as "chief software architect."</p>
<p>And then Bill and I had to go through a rough patch to figure out what it really meant that he had asked me to become CEO, but he wanted to stay around sort of working for me as "chief software architect." We got through what I've called the bumpiest period in about a year and a half, two years, but it was bumpy. But I don't think I felt really like CEO in full until Bill chose to leave the company in a full-time sense in 2008.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> And what were some of those bumpy things? Because I think I've seen you say you figured out eventually how to manage Bill or you're not quite sure if you ever really realized how to do it.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Well, I never really managed Bill. Forget the “figure out how to do it.” We changed the nature of our partnership and I think that was important, but it was still a partnership as opposed to my CEO-ship. When it came to technology judgments, Bill really drove that stuff, I would say. The bumps were: Nobody quite sure what it meant. You'd get in front of a team meeting — am I supposed to lead that meeting? Is Bill supposed to lead that meeting? Is he following my lead? Am I following his lead? That's a transition. When you're in a meeting, am I supposed to guide the meeting? Do I look like the final decision maker or not? We had to get through a lot of bumps like that; I had things I had to evolve, Bill had ways in which he needed to evolve.</p>
<h2>The infamous chair-throwing incident that he says never happened</h2>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54ce0a37ecad040c25ace2b3-2400/eric-schmidt-looks-unhappy-3.jpg" alt="Eric Schmidt looks unhappy" data-mce-source="Rob Kim/Getty Images"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> And one thing you touched on is that you did become CEO right at the peak of the dot-com boom, and then the next 10 years were totally insane. All of the FANG stocks right now, you saw either launch or explode during those 10 years. Microsoft had been the main player and then all of a sudden there's all this competition. So what was it like watching Facebook rise, watching Apple kind of come from the ashes into dominance, Google come from obscurity and actually not even exist into full bloom?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> At the time, each and every one of those things hurt me in the sense, "Oh, we should do this, we should have done that." In a way, that was the most naive view I had. There's no reason why one company should have every idea in every category. The world's not going to work like that. But that was my thought process at the time and I probably allowed myself and our company to get a little bit too diffuse in its thinking. But it did — oh — it wounded me. Facebook's not in the same business as Microsoft, not really. Apple, a little more competitive still. Google, more competitive still. Amazon, because of their AWS web services, more competitive still.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> So about Google, you're obviously a passionate person, which is great for rallying people up and getting them pumped. Sometimes, I'm sure, in management, you had to keep it in check a little bit. There was that famous story of your engineer leaving for Google. Can we talk about that chair incident? What happened that day?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Oh, it got overblown. Mark Lucovsky, who was the engineer, I had worked with for many years. I think the story was that I threw a chair, that's not right. I shook —</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> So you never threw the chair?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> No.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Oh my god — OK we need to set history straight.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I kind of shook the back of the chair. I mean I shook one, I'll cop to that, so to speak. But I never threw a chair.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> OK, the legend goes that he told you he was leaving for Google and you were like "Ahh!" and threw a chair. No chair thrown?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I said, "Mark, come on, you should stay." And then I kind of rattled — "Come on, Mark." I was rattling the back of a chair — I didn't pick a chair up and throw it. I'm not even sure I'd have the strength to do that.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Sounds like healthy passion then.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I think it was healthy passion.</p>
<h2>What advice Steve Ballmer gave to his successor, Satya Nadella</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5970ce51c50c2938008b5716-690/07low-1.jpg" alt="bill gates steve ballmer and satya nadella greet microsoft employees" data-mce-source="Microsoft"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> You've called Microsoft your fourth kid; you were breathing it for 34 years. What was the process like when you realized that your time there was coming to an end and that you were going to have to figure out what the next phase of your life was going to be?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> OK, first let me say, winding up Microsoft was about Microsoft. Other than having a big sense that I'd like to own a sports team, I had no plan. I was really focused in on Microsoft. When you say the final time, I actually think of the period starting in 2008 when Bill stepped down.</p>
<p>My focus over that time was really getting us started in the cloud. We did and I'm highly pleased at the progress Microsoft's made. There's something I wish we'd started earlier or different. We started what's now our Azure effort. Probably would have done that slightly differently. What's now Office 365 was really moving. We really dove further into the hardware business. We doubled down on Xbox, we started our Surface product line — I think that's terribly important today to Microsoft's real presence with the consumer.</p>
<p>We wandered around still a little bit in Internet services, search being the focal point. But there was some wandering. We built, though, a good technology base, which the company is using today. Really it is the foundation for the AI pool, so I think we made great progress and moved in some important and interesting directions. I feel really good about that.</p>
<p>I also feel really good about the fact that my successor was somebody who worked for me. I had been out scouring for potential successors, talking to the top people at Amazon and Apple. When it came time to actually make the transition, the board knew about those candidates, and the best candidate was somebody, I had identified early and we had given good jobs and who's just an amazing talent and is doing a fantastic job.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Tell me about the rise of Satya Nadella.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I remember going with him to Bentonville, to sell to Walmart, and that's really when I said, "God, this guy is very talented." I can't tell you exactly what year that would have been, but it was 14, 15, 16 years or something like that before he ascended to CEO status.</p>
<p>I just thought he was a really smart, really talented guy, and plucked him pretty soon after that to start running research and development in our business applications division, our dynamics product line. He did a great job, he moved into leadership for that whole business. We needed him on search, put him into the search business. He showed amazing maturity. Eventually gave him running our server and cloud business and he just kept doing great job, great job, great job, and boom, he's doing a great job now as CEO of Microsoft.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> What advice did you give him as he was going to be coming in as CEO of Microsoft?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> He quotes this and I'm sure he's right: I said, "You've got to be bold, but you've got to be right." It turn out that being bold and being wrong may be the worst place to be. The most important thing in leadership is actually pointing people the right direction. If you should be zagging left and you send people down the right, that's the biggest failure a leader can make.</p>
<h2>Finding a new identity after Microsoft ('The Good Wife' is a good show!)</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5246e4d86bb3f7fc78cbc04b-1202/steve-ballmer-9.png" alt="Steve Ballmer" data-mce-source="Microsoft / The Verge" data-link="http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/27/4779036/exclusive-video-steve-ballmers-intense-tearful-goodbye-to-microsoft"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> What were those first few months like after you stepped down from being CEO of Microsoft? You seem to have binged a lot of "The Good Wife," and played a lot of golf, but what was that transition period like? And did you have to find your new identity? Because people's identity gets wrapped up in a business when you've been there so long.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Yeah, I had to find my new identity. I also had to find my new pace of life, frankly. Both of those things. I had actually done the binge-watching over Christmas, because we delayed the announcement of Satya as my successor, or delayed the selection, and I said, "I'm not going to start new projects when I'm going to get replaced in a few weeks we're going to announce them."</p>
<p>The binge-watching was kind of fun, though. “The Good Wife” is a good show. So I retire and then the question is, what do I do? I made a trip to New York fairly quickly. I met with the commissioner of the NFL and the commissioner of the NBA and said, "Hey, I'm interested in sports." I signed up pretty quickly to teach a class in the fall on leadership and value creation at the business school at Stanford.</p>
<p>And I was trying to keep busy. I'm glad I don't have as hectic a pace now, but that seemed to me to be the right thing to do. I was trying to be the best Microsoft shareholder. In a sense I was trying to track Microsoft almost as carefully as I tracked it when I was CEO, but I didn't have all the data. I was busy doing all of that and then come about April, my son called me on a Saturday morning and said, "Dad, this Clipper thing with Donald Sterling — that team's going to be available for sale."</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Smart son.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I had looked at the Milwaukee Bucks; they didn't want to sell to me. I had asked the commissioner who I should get to know. There was nothing that seemed like it was going to sell. The Sterling thing comes, my son gives me a call, and then that really gave me an outlet for the work.</p>
<p>Two other things got me going in that period of time: My wife said, "OK, it's time, dude. You’ve got to get involved in our philanthropic stuff." I wasn't sure I wanted to do that in retirement. Not that it's unimportant, but she was doing a fantastic job. She said, "No, no." I said, "If we just pay our taxes, we're going to help the old, the poor, the sick," because her focus had been child welfare and opportunity for children and she just growled and — not growled, she's a very nice lady but — "Come on, we can do better than that. You know, the government doesn't necessarily do all of that stuff and our money doesn't necessarily go there."</p>
<p>So I kind of said, "OK, well I'm going to dig into this and really have a conversation,” and what I found is it was very hard to find that data. That's what led to the USA Facts effort. It came from stimulation. Now it turns out what we've learned, my wife and I together, is philanthropy can be helpful, but it mostly is a change agent for government programs. No philanthropy is really going to solve the issues of providing opportunities to kids who are born in unfortunate circumstances. It's just not going to happen.</p>
<p>I also made a trip to DC. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I visited a bunch of politicians and I said I had had this conversation with my wife about, “Just pay your taxes and believe in the government to take care of this.” And these two guys looked at me and said, "You can do a lot better to help people than the government's going to do." And I was kind of taken aback. These are two US senators. Out of that, I dedicated myself to working with my wife on our philanthropic efforts and I understood that the point of the philanthropy is to work in partnership with government.</p>
<p>I had probably been retired about a year and then I said, "This is nuts, I don't have to recreate the pace with which I used to work." And that's where I sort of calmed down, managed my own time. I get up, I walk with my wife, I have a chance to reflect and meditate, work out. I usually don't get any place until about 10 in the morning unless I'm on the road here in New York or doing something like that. Work some, hit some golf balls late in the afternoon, it's cool to be able to control my time and still be involved in fun and productive activities.</p>
<h2>How to buy an NBA team and beat out Oprah</h2>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5970d001552be579088b56ee-1200/rtr42vk2.jpg" alt="Steve Ballmer" data-mce-source="Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> That's amazing. I'm so glad that you're enjoying yourself. It sounds like the life that all of us hope to eventually have. One of those steps that I wanted to talk about more in depth is the Clippers. It was not easy for you to own the team and, like you said, you met with the commissioners and they were like, "Eh, there's not much available." Then all of a sudden, this Donald Sterling scandal happens where there was this tape of him coming out saying these racist things and he got eventually pushed out and there was this opportunity to buy the Clippers but you were not the only bidder. Oprah was interested and Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle was interested. What did you do to eventually be able to own the team? What were your negotiating tricks? I hear you buttered up Mrs. Sterling quite well. How did that work?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Well, it turned out the most difficult thing was actually figuring out how to get involved in the process. I didn't know Shelly Sterling, nobody was quite sure who was selling the business. I was talking to the commissioner, but things were very vague because, while they had banned Donald, Shelly and Donald hadn't stepped up to agree to sell the business and then she eventually gets involved. There was no obvious banker to talk to, but I knew Michael Eisner from Disney for a number of years and a lightbulb went off.</p>
<p>The Eisners have had season tickets to Clipper games for years, right next to the Sterlings. So Michael Eisner made an introduction for me to Shelly Sterling. He called me on a Saturday morning, 7 o’clock. He says, "Call Shelly Sterling right now at this number, she'll be available for your call." She said, "Well, what's your number?" Then she said, "Ah, it's OK, why don't you come see me?" So I went down, had a meeting with Shelly. I actually brought my brokerage statement, I never ended up showing her but a friend of mine had said, in some businesses, they want to see whether you can really afford the asset. I got through that without actually showing her the brokerage statement.</p>
<p>And then I met with her lawyer again later that evening and the process was really to try to ensure that I bid an appropriate amount of money. What I learned later, the fact that I was a sole bidder was of importance because her lawyers knew she was going to go through a set of legal wrangling with her husband over this, and they wanted a buyer who they could count on to stay with them through the process and they were worried about groups of buyers being tougher to do that with.</p>
<p>So I know there were at least three other bidders, two others who got bids in. There was a local Angeleno, there was a group that did include David Geffen and Oprah, and at least rumored, there was a group from the Mideast. I knew what my walkaway price was. I had actually told her lawyer, I wasn't a great negotiator. I had told them, "This is what I'd like to pay, this is the maximum I'd pay and, oh by the way, you have to understand, I don't want to look stupid in front of my wife for being a guy who dramatically overpays." But I, I laid it out there, I wasn't trying to be some tough, get the last 3%, 5% out of the deal, I just wanted to own the team.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Of course.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> And that was my negotiating approach. And then I had to hold on for the ride as the Sterlings went through their legal wrangling about whether Donald was competent to participate in the management of their trust.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> I remember that. And also, at the time, it sounded like you structured it like a venture-capital deal where you had a valuation on the team, and what you were willing to pay. No one had bought a team for $2 billion within the NBA before, but now it seems like you set the bar and other teams would be that valuable at this point.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Yeah, I think the thing people miss is in a business sense you'd say, it's not sort of a fluid market. Assets are limited, figuring out what the price is in that kind of calcified market is hard to do, and particularly in LA. LA and New York are different places. No matter what else is going on, buying land is more expensive in LA, and buying basketball teams is more expensive in LA. The baseball team the Dodgers had sold for about $2.1 billion, but they also had a lot of parking and they owned their stadium, so what was the right price for the basketball team? I knew exactly what the right price was: whatever the other bidders were willing to pay, plus some percentage.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Do you have a perspective or an opinion on this conference debate within sports? You own a team that is in the west conference where some of the best teams in the NBA are, and then in the east, you've got LeBron and the Cavs, but not quite the competition that there is in the west.</p>
<p>Mark Cuban has been very vocal about his opinions on it and how he thinks you should just scrap the conference thing altogether, rank the teams, seed them. What's your take?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> I think, you know, fans expect to have some notion of you know A versus B. You have it in baseball, you have it in football, you have it in basketball. I think it's fan expectation. There's some energy about that.</p>
<p>The west does happen to be stacked these days versus the east, but at the end of the day, whether you come from the west or the east, presumably the process leads to the best team being crowned champion of the NBA. I'm OK with that. We're in the west, OK, it's tougher, OK, bring it on. We'll do our best.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you are, you've got to beat the most important guys in the NBA in order to get to the championship. I wouldn't change it. I am but one owner with one voice. That will be determined in an appropriate way. As we move forward, the commissioner will lead that process. I'm OK with the way things are today.</p>
<h2>Giving back by arming the world with facts</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5970cf1dc50c2956008b5769-2127/steve%20connie%20ballmer.jpg" alt="Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer" data-mce-source="AP/Evan Vucci" data-mce-caption="Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> I wanted to touch one more time on your philanthropy and your USA Facts and just make sure people understand what that is and what you all are doing, because you're doing a lot of work here in the United States. Some people do their philanthropy outside; a lot of what you've been focused on is here.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Well, USA Facts is an effort to pull together government data in a comprehensible form so that citizens, if they want to, can understand where money comes from in the government, where does it get spent, and what kind of outcomes. And we've taken a very business-like approach. We said, “Let's do this like a 10K.” No projections, very factual, no third-party data. In this case, we've used only government data to report.</p>
<p>We use the Constitution as our organizing framework. Businesses need to have segments. Well, the segments for government in the US are established in the preamble of the Constitution: establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, provide for the common defense, secure these blessings for ourselves and our posterity. And you can put education and health and a number of other things into that framework.</p>
<p>I'm proud of what we've done. USAFacts.org, or you can follow us on Twitter at USAFacts.org or like us on Facebook, you have all of the options. I was delighted with the initial interest, 750,000 visitors across every state in the US, almost every country in the world. If you look at the activity now, it's come down some. We need to continue to push on our end to talk about how important the facts are. We just did a new poll that found people actually care about the facts. They are distressed with the fact that people with different beliefs actually have different facts. Let's get everybody on the same page. I'm excited about it. I guess you call it a philanthropic activity except we don't take any tax deductions for it, so it's just something we go do.</p>
<p>On the flip side, in the rest of our philanthropic activities, we focus exclusively in the United States. We'll support our alma maters and local things in Seattle, but what we focus in is a lot of kids, not all people born into poverty, what's their ability to move up economically? There are some kids born in the US who have very little opportunity to move up by a circumstance of their birth. What other kind of supports can you provide for parents to help those children? What do you do in the school systems? People talk about making the schools better, that's important, but a lot of the reason why it's tough to work in schools is because there's dysfunction elsewhere in the kids' lives. Parents are homeless, very hard to do your homework if you're in a single-family home, if there's no childcare, if you're hungry. Those things wind up being very, very important and so what we try to do is support not-for-profits that work in these areas, we believe deeply that an integrated approach in a community and getting the community to embrace it has great potential.</p>
<h2>Advice for the next generation of Fortune 500 CEOs</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5970d03fc50c291e008b56f2-2400/450574349.jpg" alt="steve ballmer" data-mce-source="Stephen Brashear / Getty Images"></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Final question: You've had a long, impressive, awesome career that I think anybody would feel so lucky to have. Looking back on it, if you're giving advice to someone who's just starting theirs out, what's the best advice you can give if someone wants to follow in your footsteps?</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> A few things. No. 1, find something to do that you're passionate about. If you're not passionate, I can't imagine how anybody can get there. There are two kinds of people. My son will tell me this, "Dad, there are people who live to work and there are people who work to live," and I respect both of those things. But if you're trying to have a career, you're going to have a little bit more live-to-work in you than work-to-live. So passion.</p>
<p>No. 2, evidence that in hard work, evidence that in good thought and good thinking — but be lucky. I know Microsoft's a talented company, we have very talented people. I certainly felt like I worked hard and had some good ideas as did Bill Gates and Paul Allen. But if anybody says there's no luck involved, I don't believe that. There is some luck. There's no, what was it, George Bernard Shaw? "Man and Superman."</p>
<p>No, there are people who are willing to work a little harder, willing to be a little smarter, and still don't have success. And some people do and there's a luck element that distinguishes those. I'd probably highlight those things: hard work, good ideas, and put yourself in a position to get luck, if you will. I think that that's very important.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Thank you so much, Steve.</p>
<p><strong>Ballmer:</strong> Thank you. Real pleasure to be here — I really enjoyed it.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmer-career-advice-from-clippers-owner-and-ex-microsoft-ceo-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-8-easy-fix-common-problems-apple-2017-8">8 easy ways to fix common iPhone problems</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/these-3-employee-excuses-could-signal-trouble-in-the-workplace-2017-7These 3 employee excuses could signal trouble in the workplacehttp://www.businessinsider.com/these-3-employee-excuses-could-signal-trouble-in-the-workplace-2017-7
Tue, 25 Jul 2017 05:40:00 -0400Justin Gray
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5977123d56152c3bf83dca17-926/employee.jpg" alt="employee" data-mce-source="YouTube / Movieclips" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVEnTcDIo0A" /></p><p>Excuses are like, er... opinions; everyone has one. OK, so that's a much less graphic version of that clich&eacute;, but organizations that are full of excuses are also full of bigger problems.</p>
<p>No one has a perfect performance record, but having the accountability to accept mistakes and take ownership of rectifying them are the hallmarks of excellent employees. Within great companies, there is simply no room for excuses &mdash; on any side. I heard it said the other day that great leaders sometimes have explanations, but never excuses.</p>
<p>With that said, when an excuse appears, a concise explanation can serve as a powerful alignment of expectations and help create a culture of accountability. Here are three that I've heard along the way and how to keep the organization focused on the solution &mdash; not the problem.</p>
<h2>1. 'I didn't know I was allowed to do that.'</h2>
<p>I give a one-time pass for this excuse because it's actually completely valid. Even if you have a general idea of a person's background, you don't really know the ins and outs of the past politics they've dealt with. It's possible that they came from organizations that always told them to stay in their lanes and only contribute in a way that fit their narrow job description. This is less of an excuse and more of a light bulb moment for you and your employee.</p>
<p>In my company, we make it clear that no rules or job descriptions are written in stone. We empower our people to change anything at any time and tell them not to be afraid to try new things. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, the only thing employees shouldn't be "allowed" to do is assume that the answer is "no." If you empower your employees along those lines, they should be open in admitting when they need help and quick to step in for a colleague who needs assistance.</p>
<p>The flip side of that is, once your employees know they're given carte blanche to explore opportunities, they risk severely hurting their reputations by standing still. Nothing is more disappointing than watching someone go from boundary-pusher to excuse-maker. Allow for one "I didn't know that was how it's done around here," then rid your people of that mindset for good.</p>
<h2>2. 'I didn't know where to find the answer.'</h2>
<p>Part of empowering employees is giving them license to ask as many questions as possible. It's easy to identify great employees because they're the ones who, when encountering a problem, ask themselves why it's happening instead of just saying, "This sucks."</p>
<p>The first step in problem solving is defining the problem. So, an employee who doesn't know where to find the answer probably doesn't know what they're looking for in the first place.</p>
<p>You should never expect people to know how to solve every issue, every time. It's to be expected that complex problems will require collaboration and teamwork within your organization. Encourage your teams to break down barriers in a pragmatic manner in order to get to the root cause. The answer will often lie in your process.</p>
<p>For example, I've often found that apathy attempts to cloak itself by citing information overload. I was hearing that there was simply too much information to weed through and new employees often got stuck, sometimes due to the daunting number of places where information was lurking.</p>
<p>Whatever the leading cause, your employees should always have somewhere, or someone, to help them find a solution. We implemented a knowledge base that has become the single stop for knowledge. And if the information isn't present, there's an option to ask the question directly in the platform, which routes it to pre-determined subject matter experts who can hop on the inquiry quickly.</p>
<p>By doing this, we've removed the excuse of not knowing.</p>
<h2>3. 'I just don't work well with (insert co-worker here).'</h2>
<p>Here's one that will keep rearing its ugly head if the problem goes untreated. Conflict happens. I'm not saying everyone at your company needs to be best friends. In fact, I have found that high performers are sometimes the most difficult to work with.</p>
<p>But unless co-workers can arrive at a mutual understanding, they'll constantly be on different pages. At best, the negative effects are limited to their productivity. At worst, it hobbles the entire company.</p>
<p>To help keep this parasitic mindset from spreading, it's up to leadership to encourage individuals to work through their issues on their own. We actually encourage the use of a "safe word" &mdash; something that indicates the conversation is no longer productive for one of the parties and that a pattern interrupt is necessary.</p>
<p>There needs to be a collective mindset that encourages empathy and promotes the desire to understand the position of others. I firmly believe that everyone is doing their best, and working toward the best results, as they understand them. Therefore, if this is the assumption you are willing to make as well, every conflict arises out of someone's inability to understand another party, not because of some malicious motivation.</p>
<p>As an employer, when this arises, you have the license to put performance on hold and focus on fostering this understanding. An extended afternoon away from the office can do wonders.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, many organizations allow friction to perpetuate because too much stuff needs to get done on the work calendar. Employees continue to get put on the same team without understanding each other's processes, and as a result never find a workable middle ground. Don't stunt the value each employee brings by sweeping discord under the rug. It will keep popping up again and again. And you shouldn't have the patience to hear the same excuse more than once.</p>
<p>George Washington Carver said, "Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." Unlike failure, the only way to create success is through unflinching diligence and by creating a culture where there is simply no excuse for anything less.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/these-3-employee-excuses-could-signal-trouble-in-the-workplace-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-7-people-arya-stark-kill-list-game-of-thrones-hbo-deaths-prayer-2017-8">Here's everyone left on Arya Stark's kill list on 'Game of Thrones'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-work-habits-wont-work-for-you-2017-7This is the 1 reason Elon Musk's work habits won't work for you — and what you should do insteadhttp://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-work-habits-wont-work-for-you-2017-7
Mon, 24 Jul 2017 06:03:00 -0400Matthew Jones
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5975c6169d09183a944c9811-2106/rtx2b1w3.jpg" alt="Elon Musk" data-mce-source="Scanpix/Heiko Junge/via REUTERS" data-mce-caption="CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk attends an environmental conference at Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo, Norway April 21, 2016." /></p><p>Elon Musk is an icon of success. Possessing a net worth of approximately 15.7 billion dollars, Musk is world renowned for his innovation, foresight, and incredible work ethic. Unfortunately, attempting to mimic his work habits and practices won't give you the boost you need to achieve your personal and professional goals.</p>
<p><a href="http://presencepowerpotential.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">As a life coach and licensed therapist</a>, many of my motivated clients have attempted to implement other people's practices. They come to seek my help after they've wasted years of valuable time and energy trying to mimic someone else. At that point, my job is to help them clarify their own strengths and shortcomings so that they can create a plan for building practices that will lead them &mdash; as unique and talented individuals &mdash; to the success they desire. My work with these clients is in stark contrast to the countless others I see online worshipping the icons of entrepreneurship instead of discovering their own recipe for success.</p>
<p>Many people try to replicate other people's work habits, but quickly discover that these practices fail to lead lead them to the world of abundance they desire. If living a productive and successful life were as easy as copying someone else's work, each of the kids in your high school classroom would have been just as successful as the brilliant person whose homework they copied. Unfortunately, the world is much more complex.</p>
<p>Discovering which habits work for you and which ones restrict your growth is a long and challenging process. The reason most people try and fail to work like Elon Musk, or others, is because Musk's work habits work best for him.</p>
<p>We are all incredibly unique. Each of us have individualized environments that suit us best, rest and exercise schedules that maximize our productivity, and specific diets that give us more energy. Every single person has a different psychological, mental, emotional, and physical set of requirements that need to be optimized to achieve personal and professional success &mdash; so simply copying and pasting someone else's setup is like sticking a square peg in a round hole &mdash; it doesn't work!</p>
<p>The one reason Elon Musk's work habits won't work for you is because they aren't customized to your unique makeup. Instead of wasting valuable time and energy implementing other people's habits, try doing something much more efficient: learning as much about yourself as possible.</p>
<p>Engaging in real self-development practices like therapy or coaching accelerates your ability to discover which habits support your growth and which habits you need to modify to live according to your values and achieve your personal and professional goals. Consistent practice of critical self-reflection highlights your shortcomings &mdash; the areas of incongruence between your desires and your behaviors &mdash; so that you can transcend these limitations. It also boosts your strengths by highlighting what you do well so that you can continue building upon the practices that positively contribute to your wellbeing.</p>
<p>While you're investing in your personal and professional growth through self-development practices, you can experiment by slowly adding in other people's habits to discover which work well for you. Slowly add in one or two habits over the course of a few weeks or a month to see if it adds value for you or not. Because you'll be consistently tracking your progress in therapy or coaching, you'll have direct feedback to see whether or not these habits improve your life.</p>
<p>The most important part of personal and professional growth isn't trying to copy someone else's habits, it's taking meaningful actions towards your goals. In time, these new actions will become engrained practices that will lead you to success of your own.</p>
<p>There's no need to copy Elon Musk's work habits. You simply need to invest in yourself and construct a customized and individualized plan to maximize your unique gifts.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-work-habits-wont-work-for-you-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/good-cholesterol-hdl-not-so-good-2017-7">We may have been wrong about ‘good’ cholesterol all this time</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/theskimm-newsletter-how-carly-zakin-and-danielle-weisberg-founded-it-2017-75 years ago, 2 roommates launched TheSkimm, a newsletter now read by 5 million people and former presidents — here's how they hustled to successhttp://www.businessinsider.com/theskimm-newsletter-how-carly-zakin-and-danielle-weisberg-founded-it-2017-7
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 09:15:00 -0400Alyson Shontell
<p><a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5960e58bd9fccd4b018b4f0f-800/bi-graphicshow-i-did-it-podcast800x100post.png" alt="Success How I Did It podcast" data-mce-source="Samantha Lee/Business Insider"></a></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58f6892ff40dae1c008b55ea-2400/undefined" alt="The Skimm founders CEO Carly Zakin Danielle Weisberg" data-mce-source="TheSkimm" data-mce-caption="TheSkimm founders Danielle Weisberg (left) and Carly Zakin (right)."></p>
<p><em>TheSkimm launched five years ago, on July 21 2012. <a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit/theskimm-howcarlyzakinanddanielleweisbergbuiltanemailempire">Business Insider wrote the first article</a> on the company ever. We sat down with <a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit/theskimm-howcarlyzakinanddanielleweisbergbuiltanemailempire">founders Carly Zakin and Danielle</a> Weisberg a few months ago to catch up on their last few years. They explained (the incredibly hard) way they launched and grew the company. </em></p>
<p>Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg cofounded <a href="http://www.theskimm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theSkimm</a>, an email newsletter sent to 5 million subscribers every day at 6 a.m.</p>
<p>TheSkimm picks the most important new stories of the day and tells readers what they need to know in a conversational tone that's full of millennial lingo. Loyal subscribers include Oprah and Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, John Podesta.</p>
<p>The business was far from easy to build. Zakin and Weisberg quit jobs at NBC only to get turned down by "hundreds" of venture capitalists, who saw no value in creating an email company. Together, the pair went into credit-card debt, which they say they finally paid off just last year.</p>
<p>We sat down with Zakin and Weisberg to talk about their battle stories, how they eventually got investors on board, and how theSkimm took off, all on this episode of <a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit/theskimm-howcarlyzakinanddanielleweisbergbuiltanemailempire?autoplay">"Success! How I Did It,"</a> a Business Insider podcast hosted by US editor in chief Alyson Shontell that explores the career paths of today's most accomplished and inspiring people.</p>
<div>
<iframe width="800" height="250" src="http://embed.acast.com/howididit/theskimm-howcarlyzakinanddanielleweisbergbuiltanemailempire" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;"></iframe>
</div>
<p>Subscribe to "Success! How I Did It" on <a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit">Acast</a> or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/success!-how-i-did-it/id1205997729">iTunes</a>. Check out previous episodes with:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit/tinderfounder-whatitsliketolaunch-buildandgetfiredfroma-1billionstartup">Tinder founder Sean Rad</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit/bustleandbleacherreportfounderexplainshowhebuilt2companiesworthhundredsofmillionsbyage33">Bleacher Report and Bustle founder Bryan Goldberg</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.acast.com/howididit/scottbelsky-howafounderbuilta-150millioncompanyandturnedhalfofhisemployeesintomillionaires">Early Uber and Pinterest investor Scott Belsky</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/warby-parker-ceo-and-founder-podcast-success-how-i-did-it-2017-4">The co-CEOs of Warby Parker, Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa</a></li>
</ul>
<p><em>The following transcript of the interview has been edited for clarity and length.</em></p>
<div>
<h1></h1>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="3" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; width:100%; max-width:100%; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); width:800px">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/BTH3yxCjWi5/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_top">A post shared by theSkimm (@theskimm)</a> on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-04-20T21:54:57+00:00">Apr 20, 2017 at 2:54pm PDT</time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div>
<p><strong>Alyson Shontell:</strong> Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg launched theSkimm, a morning email newsletter, in July 2012. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carly-zakin-and-danielle-weisberg-launch-the-skimm-2012-7">Business Insider wrote the first article</a> about it back then, and today the newsletter has over 5 million subscribers, including Oprah and Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, as we learned last year after WikiLeaks' publication of Clinton's hacked emails.</p>
<p>To start, I wanted to go back to 2012 and even a little before that. You met as students studying abroad in Rome. You both worked at NBC and then quit to start a newsletter. Tell me about that process.</p>
<p><strong>Danielle Weisberg: </strong>Thanks for having us — it's exciting to be back here. You wrote the first article about us, so it's a lot of déjà vu. Carly and I met studying abroad in Italy. We had a great time and didn't think about what we were going to do later on. We had really similar backgrounds. We're both storytellers, we love journalism, we love news. It was our passion.</p>
<p>We started interning for NBC news as soon as we could and we grew up in that world. NBC was our universe — we always wanted to work there. We worked our way up the ladder from intern to full time, and then we were producers, and between the two of us, we worked in pretty much every news division they had.</p>
<p>We were roommates in an apartment in New York, and we would come home to each other every day and talk about two things.</p>
<p>One, as clichéd as it sounds, we were very much having a quarter-life crisis. Being 25 and 26 and loving what we were doing but wanting to move up and not wanting to hear that you have to get in line and wait 10 years for a position that might open. That was really frustrating as two people who loved what they were doing and wanted to do more of it.</p>
<p>The second thing was our friends who were smart and had great jobs and knew everything about their industries would come home and ask us what was going on in the world. That was our job. That's what we did for a living. We read all day long, and we reported on the news and our friends didn't do that. They had other things to fill their time with. It wasn't a matter of intelligence, and it wasn't a matter of interest; that's not what they were being paid to do.</p>
<p>So we wanted to create a news source that actually brought this audience that was exemplified by our friends, female millennials, who are smart and leading in so many ways, but didn't have a news source that they loved, and we knew that we could create that.</p>
<p>So the newsletter was never the be-all and end-all. It was the beginning to a very big empire that we knew we could create in harnessing the power of female millennials, and being their go-to source for information that really matters and can drive the big decisions that they're making in their lives.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell: </strong>When you did this in 2012, it felt like newsletters had been there, done that. Daily Candy had been acquired for a ton of money; Thrillist, a popular guy newsletter, had been around for a few years. What made you think that newsletters were where it's at?</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/58fa01370ba0b888008b50ac-738/screen%20shot%202017-04-20%20at%2054119%20pm.png" alt="oprah TheSkimm" data-mce-source="Twitter/TheSkimm" data-mce-caption="Oprah is one of TheSkimm's 5+ million subscribers."><strong>Carly Zakin:</strong> It wasn't newsletters that we thought about; it was email. There was a beauty in how naïve we were. We didn't have a tech background. We didn't have a business background. It helped us not overthink things. We just thought — what's the best way to get in front of our friends? We went back and forth. Should we text them?</p>
<p>We were like, "No, the very first thing you do in the morning is you turn off your alarm, it's on your phone, you grab your phone, and you literally open your email to be like, <em>Did someone die? Am I getting fired? </em>or<em> Is my boss yelling at me? </em>and<em> What did my friends send me?</em> And we knew we had to be in that moment. One of our friends worked in finance, and she left for the office at 5:50 in the morning every morning. So we were like, we gotta get it out to her on that commute. So we chose 6 a.m.</p>
<p>A lot of the hallmarks of what theSkimm is about, that one-eye-open routine, we call it. Being in that moment and being there at 6 a.m. happened because we were just thinking about our friends' daily experiences. We weren't overthinking it. We weren't like, <em>let's A/B test this</em>. We didn't even know what A/B testing was.</p>
<p>When we started theSkimm, we started meeting with investors, industry experts, and everyone was like, <em>email is dead — this is a really bad idea.</em> But they would <em>email</em> that to us.</p>
<p>And we would just laugh at it because we're like, <em>you're saying email is dead, but you're emailing that to us.</em> And we both still read email every single morning. Obviously, since then, we've seen a resurgence of email newsletters, and a lot of that, we've been told, is credited to what we've done.</p>
<p>But for us, I think we've talked so much about all the things we didn't know. We haven't spent a lot of time talking about what we did know. And what we <em>did</em> know is that we knew how to talk to this audience, who they were, and we also knew that we were not starting an email newsletter company. We knew email was a marketing tool.</p>
<h2><strong>'We made a list of all of the investors, angels, and seed funds, and we would turn anyone who said 'no' red — then the whole list was completely red'</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5445760769bedd290a81f504-1219/screen%20shot%202014-10-20%20at%2045123%20pm.png" alt="Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, The Skimm" data-mce-source="YouTube/OWN TV" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQGhuh1Mm8"></strong></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Talk about quitting your jobs at NBC. Because you did that and bootstrapped for a bit, right? You said just now there wasn't a ton of investor interest, you were first-time founders with no technical background. That's everything that makes a venture capitalist run away.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Yeah, everything that would make you not think "This is a good idea."</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> It's funny when people ask that, because they're like, "Oh, you decided to bootstrap it." And we're like, "We didn't 'decide.'"</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> “Bootstrap” is such a generous term because it makes it seem like we had money to bootstrap. We worked in media in mid-level jobs. We had just over $4,000 between the two of us. We lived in a rent-stabilized apartment downtown and agreed to go into credit card-debt together.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote">'Bootstrap' is a generous term. It seems like we had money to bootstrap. We worked in media in mid-level jobs. We had just over $4,000 between the two of us. We lived in a rent-stabilized apartment and together agreed to go into credit-card debt.</blockquote>
<p>We just both paid off our credit-card debt in the last year or so, and it was a huge sacrifice, that even looking back now I'm like, "I can't believe I made those choices." Because it sounds so unlike myself, it sounds so unlike Danielle.</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> The other part, too, is people hear our story now and they think about it as two women decide to quit their jobs and start their own company. Quitting our jobs, it was the scariest day of our life. That was not easy. And those first months ... every point of this company has been hard. That's the case anytime you're building something. But those first months, we only got through it because we didn't have a backup plan. We didn't have a safety net financially or emotionally. This was everything.</p>
<p>That was our saving grace, because there was no plan B. There was only, "We're on our couch, we can't afford cable, we've maxed out our credit cards, our parents are giving us hugs." But that was the support. Carly's parents made us a lot of dinner. That was it. There was nowhere else to go.</p>
<p>So when everyone was saying no, and we made a list of all of the people — all of the investors, angels, seed funds — and we would turn anyone who said "no" red. And then the whole list, which was a lot of names, was completely red. I remember a day in our kitchen, we had just gotten off a pitch that again ended with "Thanks so much, not interested," and we just had to make a decision. Are we going to go for this or are we going to go try to get jobs freelancing for the 2012 election?</p>
<p>It wasn't really even a decision — it was just a half-second to reevaluate where we were, change our pitch a bit, and that was it. That was the closest we've ever come to a crisis of confidence in this company. If you let those things get to you early on, then you don't know what else is coming. There are going to be a lot more challenges.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Had you launched the first newsletter at that point? Why quit your job if you're launching a newsletter to begin with? You can do that while keeping your 9-to-5.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Well, two things. One is we had both weird schedules. I worked daytime and Danielle worked nights. So we couldn't do that. One of us would have had to change our schedule.</p>
<p>Second, we took a Skillshare class while we were employed, and it was ironic because the class we signed up for was "How to Find Your Business Partner" and that was the only thing we knew how to do. But the person who taught it, Alex Taub [an entrepreneur and investor], became a mentor to us, and he was one of the first people to tell us, "If you're going to start something, you need to be all in. How can you ask anyone to even think about giving you money if you have not made sacrifices to prioritize the effort yourself?'"</p>
<p>When people come to us and ask for advice on starting a business and are like, "I can't afford to quit," I still have mixed feelings about what to tell them. Who am I to tell someone what financial decisions they should make? But for us, we were asking people to believe in us, and we had to show that we believed in us so much that we were willing to take a huge risk ourselves, quit our jobs, have no financial security, and give it a shot.</p>
<p>So we took that approach. That's not for everybody. I don't know if it could have worked out differently. But there was actually a third reason.</p>
<p>A lot of people ask us, "Why didn't you just bring this to NBC? Why didn't you get this in front of Steve Burke?" There is no way that NBC would have allowed two associate producers to not only run the editorial but to run the business side of what we were doing. There was just no way. We knew that in our gut.</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> That would have ruined the company in a lot of ways in starting off, because the authenticity of having this idea came so much from our friends, and it was developed around routines of this target audience. It couldn't then have had a successful launch if it had then been led by people who had been doing this for 30 years and thought about the same strategy that had worked for all of these other companies and startups. That's not what we're building.</p>
<h2><strong>4 days after launch, theSkimm got a shout-out from Hoda Kotb on the 'Today' show, and it changed everything</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58f7df727522cacd008b4a65-845/screen%20shot%202013-06-03%20at%2012656%20pm.png" alt="Jeff Zucker Hoda Kotb Kathie Lee Natalie Morales" data-mce-source="AP"></strong></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Tell me about launching your first Skimm. Who did you get to subscribe?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> We didn't add anyone to the list. We sent an email to everyone in our address book. When we say everyone in our address book, at that point you could download your Facebook friends' email addresses, so we literally took every email address that we had in our possession.</p>
<p>Meaning like, my grandma is on chain letters, chain mail that she forwards. We took those people. So we had, between the two of us, 5,500 names. We sent an email and were like, "Hey, we quit our jobs and we're starting this. Can you please sign up?"</p>
<p>That first day, almost 800 people signed up. But we didn't add anyone to the list. I think the first email had our closest friends and family on it, and it was not a lot of people on it.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> So 800 pity subscribers?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Eight hundred people who were like, "I'll take a look."</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> The first went out to our family and friends. And then there were two press articles that came out on the first day, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carly-zakin-and-danielle-weisberg-launch-the-skimm-2012-7">Business Insider was the first to cover us</a>. Thank you! And we got the traction from that.</p>
<p>It all happened very quickly, because we had also emailed every news anchor out there, truly. We didn't know most of them, but we were like, "We're former NBC-ers, thought you would love this, thought you would appreciate the need that we're solving." Most of them didn't respond. Hoda Kotb responded, and she said, "I'll check it out!" We did not know her. We followed up with her two more times, but got no response. Day four of us in business, she said we were one of her favorite things — on air — and it totally changed our life.</p>
<p>So we went from, at that point, let's say under 1,000 users to thousands. All of a sudden, we had geographic diversity. And all of a sudden, we had huge pockets of the country paying attention to what we were doing.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Wow. What does a Hoda bump do to your newsletter subscribers?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> It crashed our site. It crashed our email inbox. We got a few thousand people from it. It was so funny, we were actually back visiting our old bosses at 30 Rock. We were in Starbucks and I tried to load my email and it wouldn't load. Then someone wrote on our Facebook wall: "Just saw you on the 'Today' show." And we thought we were caught walking on the plaza in the background, and we were like, "Oh, how embarrassing — what were we doing?" Then someone had posted what she had done. So it was life-changing.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> How did you create the voice for theSkimm? It's really something that resonates, and sometimes people will say, "Are they dumbing it down too much?" Or "Do women need their own news source?" But the voice did set you apart, so how did you create theSkimm's tone?</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> It was the easiest part of building this company. The voice comes from how people speak and how we talk to our friends. We spent a lot of time thinking about, "How do we launch this? What are we doing? What's the ultimate vision?"</p>
<p>We literally sat down in separate parts of our apartment and went to write what would become the Daily Skimm. We came back together, and we hadn't really talked about what the voice would sound like, aside from knowing that it would be how we actually speak to our friends. And we came up with the exact same voice. Since then, we have put a lot of time into explaining the voice to our team and putting a brand guidebook together, and talking about how well we know theSkimm girl, our character inside and out.</p>
<p>Anyone on our team can tell you what her favorite drink is, what she's going to order at Sunday brunch, and it's a living, breathing document — what she likes and where she is in life changes. That is something that everyone in our company knows because they're all telling the story of theSkimm and this character is who the brand is.</p>
<p>So when we put the voice together, it's not for everyone. I think that when we hear criticism like that, that the voice is condescending, we hear it all the time, it's nothing new. I don't think that there should be a one-size-fits-all approach to news. Just because someone doesn't like it, that doesn't mean it's for them.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> You have coined terms like Mitt Romney was "Mittens" and Hillary Clinton is "Hillz." Business Insider has found the same, that there's something to a conversational nature. That doesn't mean you're dumbing it down; it means you're explaining it so that everyone, the really smart people — because you've got incredibly smart people like John Podesta on your email list — and the people who aren't heavy in politics can understand it.</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> I think it also goes back to what we were creating, which is it's not something for experts. It's not something for just people who love politics or who love business. That was a huge thing that five years ago when we started the company, we saw such a trend toward personalization. That was the hot thing, and you should be able to just get information about what you're interested in.</p>
<p>That's great, but it left a huge void for people just to be well-rounded. So we want to arm our audience to be able to participate in all types of conversation with all types of different people, and not feel like, "Oh, I work in finance, and my hobby is baseball. So those are the things that I'm going to filter my news on."</p>
<p>That was a huge difference when we started, and that was something that people really latched on to, as well as we were describing business stories and not having words that you had to look up. When we started writing theSkimm, I remember we did this experiment where we were reading a story, and we would kind of highlight if there was a word that we couldn't explain. If that was a term or a sentence we had to go look up and read four times through, that's kind of broken.</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> We're smart, we worked in news, we were following these stories day in and day out, and if we couldn't understand it, then how can you expect that from people whose job isn't to be up on what's going on day in and day out?</p>
<h2><strong>Raising the first million, and hitting No. 1 in the App Store for news</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58f8c3997522ca68008b4c7b-2400/undefined" alt="The Skimm employees team jobs Carly Zakin Danielle Weisberg" data-mce-source="TheSkimm" data-mce-caption="TheSkimm's team. Cofounders Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin sitting front and center."></strong></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> I'm interested in how you got out of your debt. A newsletter that racks up subscribers is great, but at the same time, it's also not immediately clear how you'll start making money. Certainly not enough to pay your salaries and employ people.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> One is that people still ask us, "How do you guys make money?" And I remember we were on a panel and Danielle just got pissed off and was like, "We make a lot of money!"</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> I was done.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> So we're proud to say that we do very well. And it goes back to what we knew, which is that email is a marketing tool. Our goal from day one was to place a long bet on loyalty.</p>
<p>What can you do with loyalty? How do you develop a community, get people engaged? And from there, you can activate them, and in many ways directly monetize that. From truly day one — maybe let's not be hyperbolic; let's just say day four — we had brands reaching out to us, like our wish-list brands. Saying, "Just got this, would love to advertise." We knew nothing about how to work with an advertiser. So instead, we said, "We're actually not working with brands right now."</p>
<p>By doing that, I think we created a little bit of mystery. Our list kept growing. There kept being more press about how big our list was and who the audience was. And we weren't letting brands in.</p>
<p>What happened over time was that we continued to gain a lot of traction. We were meeting with venture capitalists who said to us, "Email is dead. Why are you going after a niche market like women?" Which is ridiculous. And who were like, "My wife reads it."</p>
<p>As Danielle said, we literally had thousands of "nos" in a spreadsheet tracking all of it. So it had been a year and a half almost of the two of us on our couch, in coffee shops, just growing organically. We got to about 150,000 users, and we were able to take in a little bit of seed money.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> How long did it take to get to 150,000 subscribers?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Less than 18 months. It took us one year to get to 100,000. Once we got that first big check — we raised just over $1 million — it was life-changing. We took a picture of it in our bank account. We were like, "We've never seen this many zeroes." It was so exciting. We treated ourselves to nice haircuts, and then we went to go hire a team.</p>
<p>In hiring a team, we really chose to double down on growth. We had one goal, which was to get to 1 million users in a year. We ended up doing it in six months. Then over the course of that year, we started to let brands in, but really selectively. What we've been doing over the last four and a half years is building out two businesses.</p>
<p>We have a media business. We work with sponsors in a really needed capacity, and we're really great storytellers with that. If you asked us, "Do you think it's a really innovative that we created an email newsletter and work with brands to email a newsletter?" No. That is not why we raised venture-capital funding, and that is not why we're building a huge business. What we're doing is we have turned that loyalty into a community. And a community that we can activate.</p>
<p>The other business that we have is a subscription business. We launched our first subscription product just under a year ago, which has been a huge success, called Skimm Ahead. And for us, these two businesses and subsequent capital raises we've taken in have helped really create what Danielle said. We're building an empire. That is how we feel.</p>
<div>
<h1></h1>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="3" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; width:100%; max-width:100%; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); width:800px">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/BTETnhyjVyj/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_top">A post shared by theSkimm (@theskimm)</a> on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-04-19T12:41:07+00:00">Apr 19, 2017 at 5:41am PDT</time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Talk about Skimm Ahead. That's your new product. What is it?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> TheSkimm, as a company, makes it easier to be smarter. We looked at the Daily Skimm. We were like, "Here's an email that makes it easier to be smarter about everything that happened yesterday, and everything you need to know about today." And then we thought, "What's the routine that we all share? And outside of email, what happens next?"</p>
<p>For us and our friends, we look at our phone, and I immediately look at my calendar, and I'm sure you are like us, and you live on your calendar as well. So we thought that was a really interesting way to deliver information. When we thought about what information could we solve next, it was that moment that we all have of, <em>Wait, when is that happening? When's that show back on Netflix? What time is March Madness on? When is the State of the Union? What night?</em> It was about the idea of making it easier to be smarter about the things coming up.</p>
<p>So we created a subscription product that costs $2.99 a month. It can integrate directly into your calendar. For us, it really pushed the door open toward subscription. We had a hunch — we obviously made more than an educated guess — that our audience would be willing to pay for something. I don't think we had any idea what we were stepping into. We're so excited about how well subscription has gone over with our audience.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Are there any metrics you can share to show it is an early success?</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> We can tell you we were No. 1 for news in the App Store in our first month. We continually beat The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal in highest-grossing news apps every month. Apple actually asked if we had figured out how to hack their rating system because they had never seen so many five-star reviews.</p>
<h2><strong>Building a marketing empire on loyalty, not scale</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5277da2beab8ea1f5d62459d-876/screen%20shot%202013-11-04%20at%20123146%20pm.png" alt="Carly Zakin Danielle Weisberg TheSkimm The Skimm" data-mce-source="http://www.bloomberg.com/video/mystery-guests-danielle-weisberg-and-carly-zakin-A6RQPqywQImh2YFtnj3c6A.html" data-mce-caption="Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg"></strong></p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> The venture capitalists did finally come around, and you've now raised $15 million. But it is hard in the media environment right now. There's a lot changing. Fifteen million dollars is a lot, but it's not the $200 million Vox and BuzzFeed and others have raised. How do you look at the media climate, and how do you plan to survive?</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> A blessing for this company is that we've never fit in. People have been constantly surprised by our audience, even when we've gone out for raises and the traction has been there. We've never been what venture capitalists have been looking for. So I think us trying to guess or trying to figure out what the trends are in media has never been helpful to us, because we've always been carving our own path.</p>
<p>It took a long time for people to understand what we were building. The criticism that we got was always like, "Oh, it's just that newsletter." And I think that it really came through strongly with the election.</p>
<p>We launched our "No Excuses" campaign, which started with, <em>How can we rally our entire company and our audience around getting people to vote?</em> And at a time when a lot of other media companies were facing this crisis of confidence from their audience, and they were endorsing candidates and hearing a lot of backlash for it.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5006bb4becad041c4e00000d-527/screen%20shot%202012-07-18%20at%2093303%20am.png" alt="the skimm" data-mce-source="The Skimm" data-link="http://www.theskimm.com"></p>
<p>We've always been nonpartisan. Our stance in the last election, just like the other elections that we've covered, has been to get people out to vote. So we interviewed the candidates, we launched a big destination site, and what we are most proud of is that we got over 120,000 people to register to vote, making us pretty much Rock the Vote's biggest partner ever. That's over 90,000 women. That's unprecedented.</p>
<p>The biggest part of our company is our Skimmbassadors. We have the media business, we have the subscription business, and then we have the community element. They are why Apple called us to say, "How did you get so many five-star reviews in such a short period?" Our Skimmbassadors. We have over 20,000 of them. They've started off as just people writing in saying "I love your product." We would ask them to get 10 friends to sign up. And they became pen pals.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> We call it "intimacy at scale." We genuinely know subscribers' names. We really know who they are. Of course you can't do that for 5 million people, but we have a community. We know how to activate them.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Facebook has 2 billion monthly active users. That is tremendous scale, but there seems to be this movement in media and tech happening where maybe you don't need that many people, as long as they're loyal.</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> We talked about it with our investors very early on. We've heard various founders of some of those companies speak, and we're such fans of them. But we look at them and we're like, "It's so funny to us that VCs ever put us in the same sentence as them because we couldn't be more different. We would much rather say we have 5 million people we activate and get to pay for a subscription product. Or we can get them to turn out in the hundreds of thousands to vote, than say "We've got 20 million of them, but only 2 million of them open us every day." That's not interesting to us.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> That's why we've always been our own category. As these media trends — and what's hot and what's not come up — we always knew who we were. We always knew what we were building as a company, and we've been lucky to be surrounded by a board and investors and advisors who respected that and respected our vision and helped us along.</p>
<p>At times we got, "Well, you're not BuzzFeed, you're not at BuzzFeed's scale." And we're like, "That's because we're not<em> trying</em> to be BuzzFeed." BuzzFeed's great, we think they have great stuff, but that's not what we're trying to build as a company.</p>
<p>It has always been about staying true to our vision and staying true to our audience in that whatever we create has to be additive. It has to be a voice that they trust, and it has to be part of what they actually need to get through their day. That's what they find whenever they interact with our products.</p>
<h2><strong>There's a new New York Times best-seller list for millennials</strong></h2>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> One thing that's interesting that you've built loyalty-wise, and we've seen it being on the receiving end when you put a Business Insider link in a Skimm newsletter, we see a flood of traffic. Are we allowed to talk about this? How when theSkimm recommends a wine, and when it recommends a book, it's often better performing sometimes than even The New York Times?</p>
<div>
<h1></h1>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="3" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; width:100%; max-width:100%; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); width:800px">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/BTFMOR8D7i6/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_top">A post shared by theSkimm (@theskimm)</a> on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-04-19T20:55:45+00:00">Apr 19, 2017 at 1:55pm PDT</time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> We've been told by publishers that we are the No. 1 way to sell books for this audience.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Above being in the New York Times best-seller list?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Above the "Today" show and above the New York Times best-seller list. Multiple publishers have told us that.</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> You can see that by walking into our office. Publishers are sending us cartloads of books. And we're like, "We just need one or two."</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> You put one in a newsletter every day, right?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> One every Friday, and a bottle of wine that we like every Friday. We happily taste-test the wine and happily read the books.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Do you get affiliate fees?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Yes, and we are open about that in the newsletter. But we choose what we think is the best for this audience. It's not about, "Oh we're going into the book business." That's not what we're saying. It's about being in the engagement business.</p>
<p>We can drive as much traffic to a Business Insider article as we can to driving book sales and as we can to driving sales toward our new products with Skimm Ahead. It just goes into the powerful relationship that we have with our audience. We feature products and brands we like all the time, and I can't even tell you how many brands have said we've changed their business trajectory because they were featured in theSkimm. That's a wonderful feeling, and we've been told we have the Oprah effect. We would never say that about ourselves, but we're happy to repeat the quote.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Definitely. And Oprah is a fan right?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Oprah is a fan, which is a very surreal sentence to say.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell: </strong>You've grown tremendously, but I'm sure it's still early in the company's history. What do you think is next? Are you going to do video? Are you going to do an audio version of theSkimm?</p>
<p><strong>Weisberg:</strong> I think it's all coming. It's just about how you prioritize it and when you release it. We started the company with two guiding principles. The first is that we have a voice — the voice is very clear — and it's in all products we create.</p>
<p>The second is that we really have a strong belief in looking at the routines of this target audience and fitting that in with what we release and when. That's the same thing, you wake up, you get an email telling you what you need to know for your day, and then you step out your door and you get your calendar. So those two things are very much in our product roadmap.</p>
<p>We did video. You can check out our Instagram and Facebook site for some of the video that we've been producing. We just did one on equal pay and we did one on Syria and immigration and it's gone over really well. That's just the beginning of what we're doing and what we're testing. As former video producers, it's exciting that we're going into that, and we clearly see a lot of interesting ways to work with brands.</p>
<p>So that's up next. It's also thinking about other products and services that fit into the routines of this audience that we've always wanted to create and haven't had the time or the ability to focus on other things. That's the benefit of being where we are now with the amazing team that we have, that we can really start thinking about what was in our head five years ago and three years ago, and now it's actually the perfect time for us to create those things.</p>
<div>
<h1></h1>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="3" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; width:100%; max-width:100%; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); width:800px">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/BS3fzOMjG4N/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_top">A post shared by theSkimm (@theskimm)</a> on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-04-14T13:17:27+00:00">Apr 14, 2017 at 6:17am PDT</time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> How does theSkimm newsletter come to be every day? How do you pick the stories? Who writes it?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> I think we developed our secret sauce. Of our team of 41, only five are on the editorial team. We still touch every word and see every word.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> What is everyone else doing?</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> It's tech, analytics, sales product, really. For us, it's about every day, it's the best part of our day to pick the stories. It's the same principle that we started with, which is: <em>What will our friends need to talk about? What's becoming a story? What already is a story? And what will feel old by tomorrow?</em></p>
<p>We want you to be able to go to any work or social event and talk to anyone about anything. We love doing that, we love picking the stories every day — it's the easiest and best part of our day. The last edit is made every morning at 5:58.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell: </strong>Ready for that 6 a.m. deadline.</p>
<p><strong>Zakin:</strong> Yep.</p>
<p><strong>Shontell:</strong> Congrats to you both.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/theskimm-newsletter-how-carly-zakin-and-danielle-weisberg-founded-it-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-amazon-warehouse-prime-now-2017-7">Amazon has an oddly efficient way of storing stuff in its warehouses</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/dont-worry-about-generation-z-entering-the-work-force-2017-7You shouldn't be worried about Generation Z entering the work force — here's whyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/dont-worry-about-generation-z-entering-the-work-force-2017-7
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 21:18:00 -0400Linda Ronnie
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/59714b9bc50c2991088b58e9-2400/90243333198ec52d2a90o.jpg" alt="millennials, workplace" data-mce-source="ITU/Rowan Farrell" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/9024333319/" /></p><p>In the next year or two, the workplace faces an unprecedented situation where for the first time, due to the fact that we&rsquo;re all living longer, five generations may be working side by side: Veterans (pre-World War II); the Baby Boomers (World War II &ndash; 1960s); Generation X (mid-60s &ndash; late 1970s); Millennials (aka Generation Y) (1979 &ndash; 1991); and last, but not least, the largely unknown factor: Generation Z, born after 1992.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s estimated that there are <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/get-ready-for-generation-z/">more than 2 billion</a> of Gen Z worldwide. In South Africa, a third of the population is <a href="http://www.childrencount.org.za/indicator.php?id=1&amp;indicator=1">under the age of 21</a>.</p>
<p>It may be too soon to be definitive about the characteristics of this generation, but they are <a href="http://www.jennings-solutions.com/international/JasonJennings-BusinessToday.pdf">said to be</a> realistic, cause and value driven, entrepreneurial, financially prudent, and have boundless curiosity.</p>
<p>This is the first generation born into a fully technological environment - a world of being connected, being digital, and having mobile phones or tablets as a <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/06/30/debunking-the-four-myths-of-generation-z/">matter of course </a>. They&rsquo;re therefore more advanced in searching for information and figuring things out on their own.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2015/10/13/how-to-attract-talent-for-jobs-that-dont-yet-exist/#7182b1767726">said</a> that Generation Z will have jobs that have not even been created yet. But that&rsquo;s not the only thing we aren&rsquo;t sure of. Although there&rsquo;s some indication of who they are and the influences shaping them, their characters are still forming and their role in the workplace is yet to take shape.</p>
<p>And, let&rsquo;s face it: organisations are still struggling to analyse the challenge that Millennials pose in the workplace. These include fitting in with organisational culture, their communication style preferences and negative stereotypes of each generation. All these need <a href="http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6609-multigenerational-workforce-challenges.html">to be managed</a> in the workplace.</p>
<p>What exactly are they going to do when Generation Z arrives?</p>
<h2>Business as usual</h2>
<p>Popular wisdom argues for a fairly predictable <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhigginbottom/2016/03/17/the-challenges-of-managing-a-multi-generational-workforce/&amp;refURL=&amp;referrer=">set of approaches</a> &ndash; all of which are wise. And increasingly people are understanding that while there are important <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2017/01/25/how-to-manage-generational-differences-in-the-workplace/&amp;refURL=&amp;referrer=">differences</a> between generations, they can be complementary and there is a significant opportunity for both ends of the age spectrum to learn from each other.</p>
<p>Listed staffing agency <a href="https://www.roberthalf.com/about-us">Robert Half</a> <a href="https://www.roberthalf.com/workplace-research/get-ready-for-generation-z">asked</a> chief financial offices where the biggest differences (and therefore opportunities for learning) lay between generations in the workplace. Thirty percent said &ldquo;communication skills&rdquo;, 26% said &ldquo;adapting to change&rdquo;, 23% said &ldquo;technical skills&rdquo;, 14% said &ldquo;cross-departmental collaboration&rdquo;, and 7% noted &ldquo;no differences&rdquo;.</p>
<p>The gist of tried and tested approaches is to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>encourage collaboration between generations;</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>facilitate mentoring;</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>allow for a cross-pollination of knowledge, where older employees share their experience, and younger employees contribute technological know-how, newer techniques and innovation.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>It has also been well argued that managers should take the lead in <a href="http://guides.wsj.com/management/managing-your-people/how-to-manage-different-generations/">adapting</a> their management style rather than expecting staff to change.</p>
<h2>The crucial bridge for Generation Z</h2>
<p>But just how different will Generation Z really be? The Millennials (aka Generation Y) has been described more than once as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/managing-different-generations-in-the-workplace-2011-2">&ldquo;Generation X on steroids&rdquo;</a>. All indications are that Generation Z will take this up a notch. Emma Davies, Human Resources Manager for South African construction company ALEC, <a href="http://www.alec.ae/">says</a> the organisation has already experienced this to some extent with work experience students:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They are a very politically aware generation, and they have been taught to question everything, but to do so respectfully. The toddler stage of asking &lsquo;why?&rsquo; does not end!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both inside and outside the workplace, listening skills, patience, tolerance and humility will become more and more crucial for older generations. And two-way mentorship will become even more important than it has been with Millennials.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/51ffd0026bb3f7b56b000015-1600/millenials-2.jpg" alt="Millenials" data-mce-source="flickr/itupictures" data-link="http://www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/9025680314/sizes/h/in/photolist-eKyYiQ-eKnA7g-eKnyCc-eKDsVh-eKDt8f-eKnzPn-eKnybn-eKz1N1-eKnzcR-eKnzWD-eKz19o-eKs5mK-eKyZey-eKz1U5-eKnzGe-eKs4tt-eKnzSz-eKnzxe-eKs4LF-eKs5Cg-eKs4Nk-eKnzhn-eKyYQE-eKnyw2-eKDtCy-eKs3Un-eKnyNZ-eKnzTg-eKnz6T-eKDtW5-eKDtfG-eKnz1v-eKz1Bm-eKs3NH-eKnzs8-eKyZRj-eKnz9z-eKs48Z-eKnzVP-eKs5sX-eKs4ok-eKs4E2-eKs4TM-eKz1hb-eKDu43-eKyYVu-eKyYy7-eKny5k-eKnxsv-eKnxVM-eKnxGz/" /></p>
<p>Generation Y has already pointed to some important changes that need to happen. Because they want involvement and feedback and are generally outspoken they have played a role in creating a more inclusive workplace as teamwork has become central to their work life.</p>
<p>This will be a crucial tool in making the most of the skills of Generation Z. This, combined with their strong communication skills and self-awareness, will emphasise the importance of teamwork.</p>
<p>These integration skills may prove crucial in helping to manage Generation Zs. Millennials, in this sense, may function as a bridge. This isn&rsquo;t to say it will all be plain sailing, even if older employees are patient and ready to learn from the youngsters.</p>
<p>Generation Y and Z&rsquo;s desire for connectedness and relationships on the part can be used for more successful mentorships. A desire for learning could also help alleviate tension with Generation Xs, Baby Boomers and Veterans, who may otherwise experience them as disrespectful or arrogant.</p>
<h2>Focus on the similarities</h2>
<p>But stereotyping needs to be avoided. South African organisations are very familiar with the effects that <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-racism-and-a-lack-of-diversity-can-harm-productivity-in-our-workplaces-73119">negative racial stereotyping</a> can have on teams and productivity. They need to guard against the same thing happening with different generations. By <a href="https://hbr.org/2013/05/hitting-the-intergenerational">fixating</a> on minor differences and taking them out of context, and by failing to appreciate similarities, organisations could be missing an opportunity.</p>
<p>More than that, the differences between generations might be smaller than we think. Research from the University of North Carolina showed that Millennials <a href="http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/executive-development/about/~/media/C8FC09AEF03743BE91112418FEE286D0.ashx">want the same things</a> as Generation X and Baby Boomers: challenging, meaningful work; opportunities for learning, development and advancement; support to successfully integrate work and personal life; fair treatment and competitive compensation.</p>
<p>And all three generations agreed on the characteristics of an ideal leader &ndash; a person who leads by example, is accessible, acts as a coach and mentor, helps employees see how their roles contribute to the organisation, and challenges others and holds them accountable.</p>
<p>The chances are, Generation Z won&rsquo;t be too far off this mark either.</p>
<h2>Respect and common sense is key</h2>
<p>Implicit in this list of characteristics of the ideal leader is respect &ndash; of self and others. In business, as in life, the fundamentals of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2014/04/10/the-respect-factor/&amp;refURL=&amp;referrer=">mutual respect</a> go a long way in building positive workplace cultures. Respect will be key in managing multiple generations too.</p>
<p>All that&rsquo;s really <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/managing-different-generations-in-the-workplace-2011-2">needed</a> is a commonsense approach that maintains a focus on individual needs, honours each person&rsquo;s contribution, and strives to keep older workers engaged alongside newer hires so as to avoid losing institutional knowledge.</p>
<p>It may also help to remember that each generational shift evolves organically &ndash; and so, too, will the workplace, if we are open to allowing it to do so.</p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/81038/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-vs-gen-z-2016-8" >Teen Generation Z is being called 'millennials on steroids,' and that could be terrifying for retailers</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dont-worry-about-generation-z-entering-the-work-force-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-nimitz-2017-7">How the US's futuristic new aircraft carrier will change naval warfare forever</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-fertility-crisis-raise-retirement-age-2017-7Japan's fertility crisis is causing companies to raise their minimum age for retirementhttp://www.businessinsider.com/japan-fertility-crisis-raise-retirement-age-2017-7
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 11:22:00 -0400Thomas Wilson, Kaori Kaneko
<p data-reactid="38"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58eb900077bb7099008b7622-2400/undefined" alt="japanese man" data-mce-source="Reuters" /></p><p>More than half of Japanese companies are planning to raise the retirement age of their workforce, a Reuters poll shows, with many saying it would alleviate the country's labor shortage and harness the expertise of veteran workers.</p>
<p data-reactid="39">Most Japanese companies require full-time employees to retire at 60, with an option of a further five years' work on reduced pay and terms. The system is a keystone of Japan's traditional jobs-for-life employment structure where workers are virtually guaranteed employment from graduation to retirement.</p>
<p data-reactid="40">However, a shrinking and aging population is forcing Japan to change. The government intends to raise the pensionable retirement age to 65 by 2025 to leave more people in the workforce and reduce pressure on a shriveling tax base and rising social welfare bill.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">Companies including Suntory Holdings and retailer Aeon Co Ltd have already raised their retirement age to 65 for employees who want to continue working. Others plan to follow suit soon.</p>
<p data-reactid="42">"We decided to raise the retirement age to strengthen our competitive edge and add value through utilizing senior workers," said Keisuke Takemasu, a human resources manager at Suntory. "There's no doubt Japanese companies need to think about employment beyond 65."</p>
<p data-reactid="43">The policy gave employee Akira Yamauchi the motivation to try something new. After 30 years in sales and in his mid-50s at the time, he asked to be shifted to human resources.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">"When I realized I had about 10 years of full employment ahead, I dared to change my career," said Yamauchi, who is now 60 years old, and has four grandchildren. "If the retirement age was 60, I wouldn't have done it."</p>
<h2 data-reactid="45">Positives</h2>
<p data-reactid="46">In the survey, some 60% of companies have raised or intend to raise the retirement age for employees, with 46% looking to lift the cap to 65 years of age and 6% considering an increase to between 66 years and 70 years.</p>
<p data-reactid="47">Overall, most companies &mdash;&nbsp;62%&nbsp;&mdash; see raising the retirement age as a positive. Many said it would ease labor shortages and help pass on older workers' skills and know how.</p>
<p data-reactid="48">"It's tough to find younger workers, so we cannot avoid raising the retirement age," a food company manager wrote in another response.</p>
<p data-reactid="49">The survey showed that 47% of companies were already implementing the change, while more than 20% said they planned to roll it out over the next three years and nearly a third planned to do it over four or more years.</p>
<p data-reactid="49"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/591c6a6214429320008b624c-2400/rts1042h.jpg" alt="japanese worker leaves the office" data-mce-source="Issei Kato/Reuters" />Raising the retirement age is "natural" as many companies already rehire employees over 60 on annual contracts, said Taro Saito, director of economic research at NLI Research Institute.</p>
<p data-reactid="58">"Given the labor shortage, Japan needs people who are over 65 to continue working," he said. "But it may be difficult for companies to keep the same conditions for workers who do so."</p>
<p data-reactid="59">The survey, conducted monthly for Reuters by Nikkei Research, polled 549 big and mid-sized firms that replied anonymously. Between 246-262 companies answered the retirement age questions.</p>
<p data-reactid="60">Japan's population is projected to shrink to 88 million from the current 127 million in the next four decades, with the proportion of those over 65 swelling to almost 40% from 28%, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.</p>
<h2 data-reactid="61">Higher Pay</h2>
<p data-reactid="62">For elderly workers, maintaining regular employment status ensures continued benefits and higher pay than if they became a contract worker.</p>
<p data-reactid="63">Such higher personnel costs were flagged by 34% of companies as a negative and impact on staff development was a greater concern; 55% said it could hinder the professional development of young workers, while 52% said it may reduce opportunities for younger employees.</p>
<p data-reactid="64">"We would be unable to balance (raising the retirement age) with the recruitment of fresh graduates," wrote a manager at a retailer.</p>
<p data-reactid="66">T&amp;D Holdings Inc's Taiyo Life Insurance in April raised its retirement age to 65 from 60 without cutting pay or terms. It will allow employees to work until 70, on temporary contracts. Daiwa Securities Group Inc has removed curbs on some salespeople working beyond 70.</p>
<p data-reactid="67">Other countries grappling with aging populations such as Germany are also raising their pensionable age. Britain abolished its default retirement age of 65 in 2011.</p>
<p data-reactid="68">Yoshihiro Yamashita, a labor ministry official, said raising the retirement age will help reduce labor shortages but, mindful of the financial burden on companies, the government will not look at compelling firms to raise or abolish retirement ages until after 2020.</p>
<p>"Companies' profitability and financial situations vary, and as the number of employees increase (after lifting retirement age), personnel costs will also go up," he said.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-fertility-crisis-2017-4" >'This is death to the family': Japan's fertility crisis is creating economic and social woes never seen before</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-fertility-crisis-raise-retirement-age-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/luxurious-train-suite-shiki-shima-train-japan-2017-5">It'll cost you $10,000 to get a first-class suite on Japan's new luxury train</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-gig-economy-is-nothing-new-2017-7The gig economy is nothing new — it was standard practice in the 18th centuryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-gig-economy-is-nothing-new-2017-7
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 09:40:00 -0400Tawny Paul
<p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/81057/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script>
</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/596e83faabc1c8c4008b5987-885/file-20170717-6073-a7eth.jpg" alt="file 20170717 6073 a7eth" data-mce-source="James Pollard/Google Art Project" data-mce-caption="The uber pool of the 18th century." data-link="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJames_Pollard_-_The_London-Faringdon_Coach_passing_Buckland_House%2C_Berkshire_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" />The Taylor Report, the UK government&rsquo;s recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/taylor-review-a-high-principled-report-into-the-gig-economy-that-will-fail-to-deliver-80836">major review of modern work</a>, paid particular attention to the &ldquo;gig economy&rdquo;.</p>
<p>This is the idea that the traditional model of work &mdash; where people often have a clear career progression and a job for life &mdash; has been upended.</p>
<p>It encompasses &ldquo;self-employed&rdquo; Uber drivers to the web developer freelancers and it allows workers more freedom &mdash; but also denies them benefits and protective regulation.</p>
<p>While it might seem that long-established ways of working are being disrupted, history shows us that the one person, one career model is a relatively recent phenomenon. Prior to industrialisation in the 19th century, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/making-a-living-making-a-difference-9780190240622?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;#">most people worked multiple jobs to piece together a living</a>. Looking to the past uncovers some of the challenges, benefits and consequences of a gig economy.</p>
<p>The diaries of three men in 18th-century Britain that I have found give a fascinating insight into how middle class people &mdash; the <a href="https://theconversation.com/flexible-work-how-the-gig-economy-benefits-some-more-than-others-67865">supposed beneficiaries of today&rsquo;s gig economy</a> &mdash; made multiple employments work. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Diary-of-Edmund-Harrold-Wigmaker-of-Manchester-171215/Horner/p/book/9780754661726">Edmund Harrold</a>, a resident of Manchester in the early 18th century was a barber by training and title.</p>
<p>He rented a small shop, shaved customers&rsquo; heads, bought and sold hair, and crafted wigs. In the hours unfilled by this he worked as a book dealer, and eventually as an auctioneer, selling various items in alehouses within Manchester and in outlying towns. He lent out money when he had it, earning 10% interest on his holdings.</p>
<p>Another enthusiastic embracer of the gig economy was Thomas Parsons, working as a stone carver in the city of Bath in 1769, as well as an amateur scientist &mdash; work that we might normally classify as leisure. In the West Country, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-chronicles-of-john-cannon-excise-officer-and-writing-master-part-1-9780197264546?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;">John Cannon</a> took jobs as an agricultural labourer, excise man, failed maltster, and teacher.</p>
<p>Like people earning money through the gig economy today, the three men were thrown into a world of precariousness. They had independence but fretted frequently about having enough money to pay bills, and feared the potential for failure. Parsons agonised about his ability to pay his debts, noting in one entry:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Am in debt and know not how to pay. This gives me great uneasiness &mdash; what a multiplicity of concerns have I to employ my thoughts!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In one entry, Harrold thanked God for &ldquo;tolerable business&rdquo; and noted that he lived very comfortably. By the next month, he would write that he was &ldquo;ill set for money&rdquo;, that he had very little work, and described being &ldquo;in great straite what to do&rdquo;.</p>
<p>All three diarists earned a comfortable, though modest subsistence for tradesmen of the time, earning between &pound;50 and &pound;70 a year, which made them part of the growing middle class in terms of income. But in an economy of multiple jobs, their income was precarious, and this had a big impact on their lives. Cannon described himself as the &ldquo;tennis ball of fortune&rdquo;.</p>
<h2>More than the money</h2>
<p>Money was a concern, but the diaries make clear that, like today, work was also about more than pay. The experiences of these three men show that people chose their work because different jobs offered different forms of fulfilment. Some tasks earned them money, but other roles gave them social status. In some cases, they even judged fulfilment and the status these jobs gave them as highly as material gain.</p>
<p>The opportunity for networking, building reputations and power could be equally as important as the cash earned. In fact, the value of work in terms of status and income could have an inverse relationship. Parsons made most of his money from his stone-cutting business rather than his intellectual pursuits, but it was his scientific experimentation that conferred the most status. That status, in turn, helped him get contracts.</p>
<p>Historical accounts of the gig economy remind us that we need to think about work as more than a form of wage earning, but as something crucial to our social and cultural lives. We define ourselves according to the jobs that we do. Though the recently-released Taylor review of Britain&rsquo;s gig economy focuses on wages, benefits, and regulation, it also clearly recognises work as an experience. The report is peppered with words like &ldquo;happiness&rdquo; and &ldquo;aspiration&rdquo;.</p>
<p>Plus, we might notice that work &mdash; even gig work &mdash; depends upon status. Today, workers relying on online platforms for work depend upon their user rating. Status and employment go hand-in-hand. And activities that help a person build status blur the distinctions between work and leisure, or unpaid and paid work. Work, for men like Parsons, Harrold and Cannon, was a social practice. It was not only a productive activity to support themselves, but was rather an undertaking that established skill, independence and self-worth.</p>
<h2>What counts as work?</h2>
<p>The gig economy considered in a historical context challenges us to better define the simple category of &ldquo;work&rdquo;. Should we define work as tasks undertaken for pay? Or should we include productive labour that is not paid?</p>
<p>Harrold was the nominal breadwinner of his family, but the household also depended upon his <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/continuity-and-change/article/married-womens-occupations-in-eighteenthcentury-london/FFDF28058689D622E45C16F8C49357E1">wife&rsquo;s work</a>. Sarah rented a room in their house to lodgers, sold secondhand clothing and washed other people&rsquo;s clothes. For these tasks, she earned money.</p>
<p>But like many women in the 18th century (<a href="https://theconversation.com/through-the-looking-glass-on-gender-pay-gap-transparency-54989">and today</a>), much of Sarah&rsquo;s work was unpaid. She cared for children, baked bread, and brewed ale. These tasks sustained the household and its reproduction, but because they were unpaid, they remain unrecognised as work. Even though she spent her days working, Sarah would have been listed as having no occupation in formal tax or census records.</p>
<p>In today&rsquo;s gig economy, more and more informal domestic tasks are becoming forms of paid work. Will accounting for these help us to better recognise the invisible work that takes place in the household?</p>
<p>The gig economy certainly poses challenges to the well-being of workers. The disruption that it brings, however, offers an opportunity to better account for the diversity of different kinds of work that take place in society, and to recognise the people who perform it.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gig-economy-parenthood-long-hours-flexibility-uber-citysprint-2017-5" >Sleepless nights and hospital runs: The struggles of parenthood in the gig economy</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-gig-economy-is-nothing-new-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-solar-eclipse-without-special-glasses-tips-tricks-2017-8">Here's the best way to watch the solar eclipse if you don't have special glasses</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-stay-productive-at-work-during-the-summer-2017-79 proven ways to fight the summer slump at workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-stay-productive-at-work-during-the-summer-2017-7
Tue, 18 Jul 2017 11:29:00 -0400Jacob Shamsian
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/595ea15b7ba1361fad329484-1778/young-woman-working-outside-shutterstock.jpg" alt="young woman working outside shutterstock" data-mce-source="Lesa/Shutterstock" data-mce-caption="What if we could all just work outdoors?" /></p><p></p>
<p>It's July, which means the weather is nice. I can't blame you if you'd rather be outside than in the office.</p>
<p>The days seem to stretch on forever, while <a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/best-beach-towns-2017-6">sunlight and chirping birds beckon beyond these walls</a>. But we all have to work. Fortunately, there are a few life hacks that can keep you productive during the summer slump.</p>
<p>Here are some ways to make <a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/perfect-daily-routine-2017-1">your daily routine</a> more efficient, lively, and keep you engaged enough so you can <a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/productivity-hack-working-from-home-2017-6">be productive</a> during the workday and enjoy yourself outdoors once you clock out.</p><h3>Take a cold shower in the morning.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/591c6932dd08950e428b4996-400-300/take-a-cold-shower-in-the-morning.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Taking a cold morning shower is a productivity hack <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-taking-cold-showers-for-30-days-improved-my-productivity-2016-7">that works year-round</a>. It can potentially boost your endorphins to a level similar to what they would be after exercise. It's an even more useful tip&nbsp;in the summer, because it can cool your body down and shock you out of the lethargic, comfortable mood that sets in on warm summer days.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Do the most important work earlier in the day.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/595ea15b7ba1361fad32947d-400-300/do-the-most-important-work-earlier-in-the-day.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>As summer days stretch on, so do daydreams about strolling through parks and lounging by the beach. For that reason, it's better to get important work done earlier, before the work malaise really sets in.</p>
<p>"Tackle the most important items on your to-do list when your energy levels are high," Amanda Augustine, a career advice&nbsp;expert for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.topresume.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.topresume.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1500744782564000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFTtHVkfwxMz_-cBz4O_b4zmDEqSg">TopResume</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-productive-during-the-summer-2015-6">told Business Insider</a>. "This is especially important in the summertime when temperatures are sure to continue rising as the day stretches on."&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Do more communicating in the morning.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/595ea15b7ba1361fad32947e-400-300/do-more-communicating-in-the-morning.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Another morning habit to keep during the summer is maximizing your communication. As people take vacation days off and have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/summer-fridays-more-popular-than-ever-2017-6">"summer Fridays," where workplaces reduce working hours on Fridays</a>, it's more important than ever to be on top of communication and coordination. Prioritize your emails, Slack messages, and calendar appointments so projects don't get delayed when someone checks out at noon on a Friday or heads to Spain for a week.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-stay-productive-at-work-during-the-summer-2017-7#/#stay-cool-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/question-disney-exec-always-asks-2017-7A Disney exec shares the interview question he always asks to decide if someone's the right fit for the companyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/question-disney-exec-always-asks-2017-7
Mon, 17 Jul 2017 04:18:00 -0400Sarah Kimmorley
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/596c73219d091815181bfa67-1067/img6373.jpg" alt="Disneyland buffet characters kids" data-mce-source="Cassidy Hopkins" /></p><p>The Walt Disney Company is one of the most admired, and most recognised businesses in the world.</p>
<p>What started as a small studio in 1923 with a hand-drawn cartoon mouse is now a global entertainment giant with $US177 billion revenue.</p>
<p>Building a reputable brand and keeping it relevant almost 100 years is no easy feat. The company has even had to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-disney-had-to-change-andy-bird-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">change the way it sees the world</a> in order to keep with the evolving consumer landscape.</p>
<p>So how do they do it?</p>
<p>Well, "it's not secret sauce," according to the head of Walt Disney International, Andy Bird.</p>
<p>Rather it is about the values the company built and continues to preserve no matter how big it grows.</p>
<p>"[It's about] honesty and trust and truth, that transparency. Optimism. Integrity. The values that are important in who we are, who we employ, how we want to be perceived, and in the stories that we tell," he says.</p>
<p>"A lot of the values that you see on screen also evolve from the values of the company. If you're going to be admired, you want to be respected.</p>
<p>"These are attributes and values that are very important to ourselves and you look for that in people.</p>
<p>"When I'm interviewing someone, everyone wants to work for Disney... I really want to dig down deep into finding out whether you share the same sort of value set as we aspire to. Those are really important. You start to create that culture."</p>
<p>When interviewing potential candidates, there is one question in particular that Bird asks to determine whether the person is the right culture fit for Disney.</p>
<p>"One consistent thing I do, I ask people I interview to tell me a story," he says.</p>
<p>"Tell us a story about something that's happened in your life.</p>
<p>"It's important because we're storytellers."</p>
<p>From people interviewing for finance roles to HR and everything in between, he said the question still applies.</p>
<p>"People go, &lsquo;Yeah, that's just for the creatives'. No it's not.</p>
<p>"Everyone has the ability to be creative if they're given the opportunity to be&hellip; Creativity's not just about filmmakers, it can be anyone. Some of the best ideas have come out of the finance department."</p>
<p>He says its about how they present and interpret stories that creates diversity of thought and generates new ideas.</p>
<p>"They all have stories to tell."</p>
<p><em>*This author travelled to Los Angeles as a guest Disney.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/question-disney-exec-always-asks-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-you-may-have-missed-season-7-episode-5-game-of-thrones-hbo-jon-snow-targaryen-dragons-easter-eggs-2017-8">6 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 5 of 'Game of Thrones'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-should-never-say-to-coworkers-2017-724 things you should never say to your coworkershttp://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-should-never-say-to-coworkers-2017-7
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 11:33:00 -0400Rachel Gillett
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56cf67d56e97c631008b9c54-1536-1152/14093140180_ac46875b64_k.jpg" alt="work friends colleagues coworkers talking happy" data-mce-source="Francisco Osorio/flickr" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/francisco_osorio/14093140180/in/dateposted/" /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-friends-at-work-2016-2">Getting along with your coworkers</a> is a beautiful thing. It can make your workday less dreary, help you focus better, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/not-having-friends-at-work-can-make-you-stupid-2015-2">make you more productive</a>.</p>
<p>But according to Rosalinda Oropeza Randall, an <a href="http://rosalindarandall.com/">etiquette and civility expert</a> and the author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Burp-Boardroom-Uncommonly-Workplace/dp/1939629357">Don't Burp in the Boardroom</a>," your chummy coworker relationship can become problematic when you don't keep it professional.</p>
<p>From things that make you sound unprofessional to awkward or impolite &mdash; and even harassing comments &mdash; there are a lot of things you shouldn't say that could turn a work relationship ugly or even get you fired.</p>
<p>"In conversation, use a little common sense and discretion, especially when there are others present," Randall suggests. "The general guideline is that if you wouldn't say it in front of your boss, don't say it."</p>
<p>Aside from the obvious &mdash; like profanity and insults &mdash; here are some words and phrases you should <em>never&nbsp;</em>utter to your coworkers:</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-should-not-say-to-your-boss-2017-4" >33 things you should never say to your boss</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/social-skills-that-will-make-you-more-likable-2017-6" >19 simple social skills that will make you more likable</a></strong></p>
<h3>'How much do you get paid?'</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5602cc7b9dd7cc1b008bc936-400-300/how-much-do-you-get-paid.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>"This question is not only unprofessional, but awkward," Randall says. "Why do you want to know? Will you complain to your boss if you find it inequitable? Or will you speak to your boss on your coworker's behalf insisting they get a raise?"</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>'Can I borrow some cash?'</h3>
<p><p><span></span><span>Most of us have forgotten to bring cash or our wallet to work once or twice, and, Randall says, in this rare occasion it might be OK&nbsp;to ask your understanding coworker to borrow some money for lunch.</span></p>
<p><span>"But if your wallet is always in your 'other purse,' don't be surprised if you're excluded from future lunches," she says.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>'Honestly'</h3>
<p><p>Barbara Pachter, an etiquette expert and author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Essentials-Business-Etiquette-Success/dp/0071811265">The Essentials of Business Etiquette</a>," says that drawing attention to your honesty at that moment can lead people to wonder, "Aren't you always honest with me?"</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-should-never-say-to-coworkers-2017-7#/#did-you-hear--4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/mental-health-day-boss-email-2017-7A woman took time off for mental health reasons and her boss' response is going viralhttp://www.businessinsider.com/mental-health-day-boss-email-2017-7
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 11:32:00 -0400Talia Lakritz
<h3><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5964e5a0d62e70335d25c527-800/pjimage%2037.jpg" alt="mental health thumb" data-mce-source="Madalyn Parker/Facebook, @madalynrose/Twitter"></h3>
<h3>The INSIDER Summary:</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Madalyn Parker sent an email notifying her team at work that she was taking time off to focus on her mental health.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The CEO of her company commended her for setting a positive example.</strong></li>
<li><strong>She shared the email thread on Twitter and it went viral.</strong></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p><br>Madalyn Parker needed a mental health day.</p>
<p>Parker, a web developer at Olark, has opened up about her struggles with anxiety and depression in the workplace before. In a 2015 post on Medium called "<a href="https://medium.com/@madalynrose/overcoming-mental-health-hurdles-at-work-ed0b135e21c8">Overcoming Mental Health Hurdles at Work</a>," she wrote about sharing her mental health challenges with her colleagues and feeling supported by her team.</p>
<p>When she sent an email last month notifying her coworkers that she was taking time off to focus on her mental health, the CEO of Olark, Ben Congleton, responded with an encouraging message.</p>
<p>"You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work," he wrote.</p>
<p>Parker shared her boss' email on <a href="https://twitter.com/madalynrose/">Twitter</a>. It has since been retweeted over 10,000 times.</p>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
When the CEO responds to your out of the office email about taking sick leave for mental health and reaffirms your decision. 💯 <a href="https://t.co/6BvJVCJJFq">pic.twitter.com/6BvJVCJJFq</a> </p>— madalyn (@madalynrose) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/880886024725024769">June 30, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p><strong>Here's the full email:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hey Madalyn,</p>
<p>I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this. Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health — I can't believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>People on Twitter admired her honesty and appreciated the CEO's thoughtful response.</strong></p>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
I'm in awe of the courage you've shown in being so open about it, to be honest. Brilliant! </p>— Amol Joshi (@amalezishi) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/881608359954309120">July 2, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
I'm gonna have to start job hunting soon and I'm mentally ill &amp; have panic attacks. Thanks for giving me hope that I can find a job as I am. </p>— ollie🌱 (@recarmdran) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/881603921764077569">July 2, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
That's a good CEO. You're a lucky person to have a cool leadership group </p>— Jamie McCarty (@JamieMcCarty) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/881378218699243521">July 2, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
I can't love this tweet enough. Your CEO is a rare gem. </p>— Erica Schoonmaker (@_erica) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/881600749414760448">July 2, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p>Congelton wrote that some of tweets commending him brought tears to his eyes.</p>
<p><span>"There were so many stories of people wishing they worked at a place where their CEO cared about their health, and so many people congratulating me on doing such a good thing," he wrote on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-2017-mental-health-still-issue-workplace-ben-congleton-1">LinkedIn</a>. "This should be business as usual. We have a lot of work to do."</span></p>
<p><span>If you're not sure if you need a mental health day, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/when-and-how-to-take-a-mental-health-day-2014-8">workplace therapist Brandon M. Smith says</a> to <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/01/12/how-and-when-to-take-mental-health-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">look for these signs</a>: </span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">1. You're suddenly not sleeping well or have developed <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/sleep-disorders#r_src=ramp">insomnia</a>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">2. You can't shake last week's stress. In other words, your level of stress is greater than your current stressors.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">3. You're snippy with your spouse, your kids, or your coworkers.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">4. You feel a general sense of apathy and don't care about your work.</p>
<p>Just like <span>Congelton told Parker, it's important that we bring our "whole selves" to work.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mental-health-day-boss-email-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-cialdini-persuasion-technique-boss-supportive-ideas-2016-9">How to get your boss to say yes to your ideas</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-10-billion-lost-productivity-analyst-2017-7Amazon’s Prime Day event could lead to $10 billion in lost productivity, says CNBC analyst (AMZN)http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-10-billion-lost-productivity-analyst-2017-7
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 11:15:44 -0400Jeff Dunn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5919d4d21442931c008b56a6-2400/gettyimages-450831324.jpg" alt="Jeff Bezos" data-mce-source="David Ryder/Getty"></p><p>Monday night marked the beginning of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-is-killing-black-friday-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon Prime Day</a>, a day-long sales event in which Amazon advertises a steady stream of special offers to members of its Prime subscription service.</p>
<p>The event lasts through Tuesday, and, if history is <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/13/prime-day-2016-was-amazons-biggest-day-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">any indication</a>, is likely to reel in plenty of sales for Amazon.</p>
<p>But the prospect of new sales at such a massive online shopping presence could also have a less-than-ideal side effect: people getting distracted at work.</p>
<p>To put a number on it: Prime Day could result in roughly $10 billion in lost productivity, according to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/07/11/amazon-prime-day-delivers-economic-blow-to-workplace.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNBC data journalist Eric Chemi</a>. Chemi suggests that with most of the roughly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-subscribers-total-prime-day-chart-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">85 million Prime members</a> spending an estimated average of 1 minute on Amazon every time a new round of deals pop up, over the length of a 30-hour event, there’ll be many hours not spent looking at spreadsheets and word processors. And that should only be exacerbated by the number of people who’ll <em>think</em> about buying Prime to look into what’s available.</p>
<p>At the same time, Chemi notes, it’s not like everyone in the office spends their entire day working. Amazon will likely cut into the time spent on Facebook, Reddit, and other popular distractions as well.</p>
<p>Whatever the case, that Amazon has managed to manufactured a event like Prime Day, whose deals are <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-deals-prime-day-camelcamelcamel-fakespot-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">regularly hit-or-miss</a>, is a testament to its popularity. And as it continues to use events like this to gobble up Prime members, who spend roughly twice as much on Amazon than their non-Prime counterparts, its vise grip on the online shopping market is likely to grow, and its contributions to time-wasting along with it.</p>
<p>You can check out the full video below:</p>
<div>
<iframe src="http://player.cnbc.com/p/gZWlPC/cnbc_global?playertype=synd&amp;byGuid=3000634862&amp;size=640_360" width="640" height="360" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#131313"></iframe>
</div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-deals-prime-day-camelcamelcamel-fakespot-2017-7" >Before buying anything on Amazon, use these 2 tools to make sure you’re getting a good deal</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-10-billion-lost-productivity-analyst-2017-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/check-these-sites-before-buying-on-amazon-prime-2017-7">Two sites you should check before buying anything on Amazon</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/coolest-perks-of-working-at-google-in-2017-2017-713 incredible perks of working at Google, according to employeeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/coolest-perks-of-working-at-google-in-2017-2017-7
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 10:57:00 -0400Lucy Yang
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5964e067bb3503306043b573-2400/ap901067489843.jpg" alt="Google's Chicago office" data-mce-source="M. Spencer Green/AP" data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Google-Chicago/ea158e1e4a8543f6a7ccc45ddcaa6867/16/0" /></p><p></p>
<p>It's no secret that Google has been one of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/25-best-tech-companies-to-work-for-in-2016-2016-12/">best companies</a>&nbsp;to work for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/best-tech-companies-to-work-at-according-to-linkedin-2017-5">in recent years</a>.</p>
<p>Employees of the tech giant consistently report high levels of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-the-best-company-to-work-for-in-america-2016-4/#a-high-percentage-of-googlers-say-theyresatisfied-in-their-job-1">job satisfaction</a>, are very&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-the-best-company-to-work-for-in-america-2016-4/#googlers-say-their-compensation-is-the-best-3">well-compensated</a>, and work on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-the-best-company-to-work-for-in-america-2016-4/#most-googlers-think-their-work-makes-the-world-a-better-place-2">meaningful projects</a> in a supportive environment.</p>
<p>Historically, they also enjoy some of the best perks we've heard of, from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-employees-favourite-perks-2015-9/#new-parents-get-the-break-they-deserve-9">paid maternity&nbsp;and&nbsp;paternity leave</a> to the company's incredibly thoughtful <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-employees-favourite-perks-2015-9/#one-mans-wife-actually-cried-when-she-heard-how-good-googles-death-benefits-were-10">"death benefits" policy</a>.</p>
<p>INSIDER spoke to seven Googlers who shared what their favorite perks are in 2017. Here's&nbsp;a closer look.</p>
<p><em>The views expressed below are those of Google's employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company itself.&nbsp;</em></p><h3>Perhaps one of Google's most well-known perks, employees can eat every meal at work for free — and save a ton of money.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5964e067bb3503306043b567-400-300/perhaps-one-of-googles-most-well-known-perks-employees-can-eat-every-meal-at-work-for-free--and-save-a-ton-of-money.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>While many companies offer its employees an array of snacks, Google's employees have access to campus cafes, micro kitchens, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-employees-favourite-perks-2015-9/#the-free-gourmet-food-and-snacks-are-never-ending-1">endless options</a> for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.&nbsp;</p>
<p>One Googler, a software engineer who works on Search Infrastructure, told INSIDER, "This is silly, but of all the food that they give&nbsp;us [...] one of my favorites is the chocolate mousse in the La Place&nbsp;cafe. It's served every day at lunch, and it's absolutely heavenly. Sometimes I'll stash away some mousse for a mid-afternoon 'mousse break' with co-workers."</p>
<p>More importantly, the free food lets employees "cut down on personal costs significantly," said a former intern and incoming full-time employee at Googleplex &mdash; the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>In addition to the free food, employees can also take free cooking classes to learn how to make new dishes or bond with their teammates.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5964e067bb3503306043b568-400-300/in-addition-to-the-free-food-employees-can-also-take-free-cooking-classes-to-learn-how-to-make-new-dishes-or-bond-with-their-teammates.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>According to the Googler working on Search Infrastructure, Google also offers free cooking classes and team building workshops at various offices across the US.</p>
<p>"One of my favorite classes was Pad Kee Mao. Beyond learning to cook new things, it's also a great opportunity to meet new people in the office outside of those you work with, or getting to know your teammates better," the software engineer said.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Googlers can attend or help organize Talks at Google — a program that lets employees bring in speakers who interest them.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5964e067bb3503306043b569-400-300/googlers-can-attend-or-help-organize-talks-at-google--a-program-that-lets-employees-bring-in-speakers-who-interest-them.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The software engineer also told INSIDER about the diverse range of speakers that come in to talk to Google employees. This includes authors discussing their newly-released books, Broadway casts or creative teams chatting about their experiences, chef giving demonstrations, and more. Celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Ryan Reynolds have also&nbsp;graced the Talks at Google stage.</p>
<p>She added:&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote>"This is one of my favorite perks because the speakers they bring in are always very interesting and compelling. I personally love when the cast/creative teams of shows will come in (Josh Groban was here a few weeks ago for Great Comet, and there's a panel in a week or so filled with the some of the 2017 Tony nominees), but I've also attended some very eye-opening and thought-provoking talks &mdash; for example, Nikole Hannah-Jones came a few months ago to discuss modern day segregation in the public school system."</blockquote>
<p>The good news? Even if you're not a Google employee, you can catch most of the Talks on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AtGoogleTalks">here</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/coolest-perks-of-working-at-google-in-2017-2017-7#/#they-can-also-stay-fit-and-save-time-by-exercising-at-on-site-gyms-and-attending-free-workout-classes-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a>